Esophageal Cancer-Related Gene-4 Contributes to Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Ion Channel Dysfunction in hiPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes.

Background And Purpose: Esophageal cancer-related gene-4 (ECRG4) participate in inflammation process and can interact with the innate immunity complex TLR4-MD2-CD14 on human granulocytes. In addition, ECRG4 participate in modulation of ion channel function and electrical activity of cardiomyocytes. However, the exact mechanism is unknown.

CardioMEA: comprehensive data analysis platform for studying cardiac diseases and drug responses.

Introduction: In recent years, high-density microelectrode arrays (HD-MEAs) have emerged as a valuable tool in preclinical research for characterizing the electrophysiology of human induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs). HD-MEAs enable the capturing of both extracellular and intracellular signals on a large scale, while minimizing potential damage to the cell. However, despite technological advancements of HD-MEAs, there is a lack of effective data-analysis platforms that are capable of processing and analyzing the data, particularly in the context of cardiac arrhythmias and drug testing.

Generation of a heterozygous Calsequestrin 2 F189L iPSC line (UMGi158-B) by CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to investigate the cardiac pathophysiology of Takotsubo Syndrome and Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia.

Takotsubo Syndrome (TTS) is a potentially life-threatening disease characterized by a transient left ventricular apical akinesia in response to β-adrenergic overstimulation. Since a genetic predisposition is assumed, we generated an iPSC-line carrying a p.F189L mutation in the calcium buffering protein Calsequestrin 2 (CasQ2).

Mutation-induced LZTR1 polymerization provokes cardiac pathology in recessive Noonan syndrome.

Noonan syndrome patients harboring causative variants in LZTR1 are particularly at risk to develop severe and early-onset hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In this study, we investigate the mechanistic consequences of a homozygous variant LZTR1 by using patient-specific and CRISPR-Cas9-corrected induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) cardiomyocytes. Molecular, cellular, and functional phenotyping in combination with in silico prediction identify an LZTR1-specific disease mechanism provoking cardiac hypertrophy.

mtDNA analysis using Mitopore.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis is crucial for the diagnosis of mitochondrial disorders, forensic investigations, and basic research. Existing pipelines are complex, expensive, and require specialized personnel. In many cases, including the diagnosis of detrimental single nucleotide variants (SNVs), mtDNA analysis is still carried out using Sanger sequencing.