Probing the mechanobiological properties of human embryonic stem cells in cardiac differentiation by optical tweezers

J Biomech. 2012 Jan 3;45(1):123-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2011.09.007. Epub 2011 Nov 20.

Abstract

Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and hESC-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CM) hold great promise for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. However the mechanobiological properties of hESC and hESC-CM remains elusive. In this paper, we examined the dynamic and static micromechanical properties of hESC and hESC-CM, by manipulating via optical tweezers at the single-cell level. Theoretical approaches were developed to model the dynamic and static mechanical responses of cells during optical stretching. Our experiments showed that the mechanical stiffness of differentiated hESC-CM increased after cardiac differentiation. Such stiffening could associate with increasingly organized myofibrillar assembly that underlines the functional characteristics of hESC-CM. In summary, our findings lay the ground work for using hESC-CMs as models to study mechanical and contractile defects in heart diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomechanical Phenomena / physiology
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / physiopathology
  • Cell Differentiation / physiology*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Embryonic Stem Cells / cytology
  • Embryonic Stem Cells / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Models, Biological
  • Myocardial Contraction / physiology
  • Myocytes, Cardiac / cytology
  • Myocytes, Cardiac / physiology*
  • Myofibrils / physiology
  • Optical Tweezers*