Robust Generation of Cardiomyocytes from Human iPS Cells Requires Precise Modulation of BMP and WNT Signaling.

Various strategies have been published enabling cardiomyocyte differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. However the complex nature of signaling pathways involved as well as line-to-line variability compromises the application of a particular protocol to robustly obtain cardiomyocytes from multiple iPS lines. Hence it is necessary to identify optimized protocols with alternative combinations of specific growth factors and small molecules to enhance the robustness of cardiac differentiation.