Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Republic of Korea.
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Busan, Republic of Korea.
Exp Mol Med. 2022 Apr;54(4):493-502. doi: 10.1038/s12276-022-00746-8. Epub 2022 Apr 4.
Human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) have been reported to exhibit immature embryonic or fetal cardiomyocyte-like phenotypes. To enhance the maturation of hESC-CMs, we identified a natural steroidal alkaloid, tomatidine, as a new substance that stimulates the maturation of hESC-CMs. Treatment of human embryonic stem cells with tomatidine during cardiomyocyte differentiation stimulated the expression of several cardiomyocyte-specific markers and increased the density of T-tubules. Furthermore, tomatidine treatment augmented the number and size of mitochondria and enhanced the formation of mitochondrial lamellar cristae. Tomatidine treatment stimulated mitochondrial functions, including mitochondrial membrane potential, oxidative phosphorylation, and ATP production, in hESC-CMs. Tomatidine-treated hESC-CMs were more sensitive to doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity than the control cells. In conclusion, the present study suggests that tomatidine promotes the differentiation of stem cells to adult cardiomyocytes by accelerating mitochondrial biogenesis and maturation and that tomatidine-treated mature hESC-CMs can be used for cardiotoxicity screening and cardiac disease modeling.
人胚胎干细胞衍生的心肌细胞(hESC-CMs)已被报道表现出未成熟的胚胎或胎儿心肌细胞样表型。为了增强 hESC-CMs 的成熟度,我们鉴定出一种天然甾体生物碱,番茄碱,作为一种新的物质,刺激 hESC-CMs 的成熟。在心肌细胞分化过程中用番茄碱处理人胚胎干细胞可刺激几种心肌细胞特异性标志物的表达,并增加 T 小管的密度。此外,番茄碱处理增加了线粒体的数量和大小,并增强了线粒体层状嵴的形成。番茄碱处理刺激 hESC-CMs 中的线粒体功能,包括线粒体膜电位、氧化磷酸化和 ATP 产生。与对照细胞相比,番茄碱处理的 hESC-CMs 对阿霉素诱导的心脏毒性更敏感。总之,本研究表明,番茄碱通过加速线粒体生物发生和成熟促进干细胞向成体心肌细胞的分化,并且番茄碱处理的成熟 hESC-CMs 可用于心脏毒性筛选和心脏疾病建模。