Journal of Molecular Recognition, 2018
S. Dinarelli, M. Girasole, P. Spitalieri, R.V. Talarico, M. Murdocca, A. Botta, G. Novelli, R. Mango, F. Sangiuolo, G. Longo
This publication reports the usage of a Nanosurf Flex-Bio system to observe and characterize the beating profile of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) clustered in so called beating bodies (BB). The in vitro investigation of BBs consisting of patient specific hiPSC-CMs allows non-invasive characterization of cardiac diseases, especially if caused by genetic disorders such as myotonic dystrophy type 1. In particular, investigation of cells organized in BBs provides interesting and physiological information on the response of such clusters to e.g. mechanical stimuli. The Nanosurf Flex-Bio system was used both to apply such mechanical stimuli by exerting a controlled force onto the BBs and to record the beating profile of BB clusters from WT and myotonic dystrophy type 1 patients. Making use of the high force-sensitivity of the AFM, differences in parameters such as beating impulse, beat duration and time evolution could be investigated.