Patient-specific hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes indicate allelic and contractile imbalance as pathogenic factor in early-stage Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is often caused by heterozygous mutations in β-myosin heavy chain (MYH7, β-MyHC). In addition to hyper- or hypocontractile effects of HCM-mutations, heterogeneity in contractile function (contractile imbalance) among individual cardiomyocytes was observed in end-stage HCM-myocardium. Contractile imbalance might be induced by burst-like transcription, leading to unequal fractions of mutant versus wildtype mRNA and protein in individual cardiomyocytes (allelic imbalance).

Myosin expression and contractile function are altered by replating stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Myosin heavy chain (MyHC) is the main determinant of contractile function. Human ventricular cardiomyocytes (CMs) predominantly express the β-isoform. We previously demonstrated that ∼80% of human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) express exclusively β-MyHC after long-term culture on laminin-coated glass coverslips.

Activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor by clozapine induces preadipocyte differentiation and contributes to endothelial dysfunction.

Background: The superior therapeutic benefit of clozapine is often associated with metabolic disruptions as obesity, insulin resistance, tachycardia, higher blood pressure, and even hypertension.

Aims: These adverse vascular/ metabolic events under clozapine are similar to those caused by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and clozapine shows structural similarity to well-known ligands of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). Therefore, we speculated that the side effects caused by clozapine might rely on AhR signaling.

Generation of two iPSC clones (MHHi021-A and MHHi021-B) from a patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with p.Arg723Gly mutation in the MYH7 gene.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common form of genetic heart disease and is characterized by abnormal thickening of the left ventricular wall and interventricular septum. Here we describe the generation of two induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) clones from a HCM patient, heterozygous for the p.Arg723Gly (c.

Myosin-18B Regulates Higher-Order Organization of the Cardiac Sarcomere through Thin Filament Cross-Linking and Thick Filament Dynamics.

MYO18B loss-of-function mutations and depletion significantly compromise the structural integrity of striated muscle sarcomeres. The molecular function of the encoded protein, myosin-18B (M18B), within the developing muscle is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that recombinant M18B lacks motor ATPase activity and harbors previously uncharacterized N-terminal actin-binding domains, properties that make M18B an efficient actin cross-linker and molecular brake capable of regulating muscle myosin-2 contractile forces.