Chemically defned generation of human cardiomyocytes

Existing methods for human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPsc) cardiac differentiation are effcient but require complex, undefned medium constituents that hinder further elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of cardiomyogenesis. using hiPscs derived under chemically defned conditions on synthetic matrices, we systematically developed an optimized cardiac differentiation strategy, using a chemically defned medium consisting of just three components: the basal medium rPmi 1640, l-ascorbic acid 2-phosphate and rice-derived recombinant human albumin. Along with small molecule-based induction of differentiation, this protocol produced contractile sheets of up to 95% tnnt2⁺ cardiomyocytes at a yield of up to 100 cardiomyocytes for every input pluripotent cell and was effective in 11 hiPsc lines tested. this chemically defned platform for cardiac specifcation of hiPscs will allow the elucidation of cardiomyocyte macromolecular and metabolic requirements and will provide a minimal system for the study of maturation and subtype specifcation.