A P19 Cardiac Cell Line as a Model for Evaluating Cardiac Tissue Engineering Biomaterials

Our objective was to develop a suitable cardiomyocyte progenitor cell line for use in testing biomaterials as potential scaffolds in cardiac tissue engineering. We transfected P19 cells with the human cardiac -actin promoter driving the gene for puromycin resistance, to create a stable cardiomyocyte-selectable P19 cell line, termed P19(CAPuro). Puromycin selection resulted in a 4-10 fold enrichment of cardiac muscle gene expression and a 3-fold enrichment in cardiomyocytes. Morphological, biochemical, and functional analyses were used to evaluate the properties of P19(CAPuro) cardiomyocytes in the presence and absence of a novel cross-linked collagen-based biomaterial. The collagen-based biomaterial was able to support appropriate viability, gene expression, and cardiomyocyte function. Therefore, P19(CAPuro) cells are suitable for examining biomaterials as potential scaffolds and this approach could be used for rapidly screening biomaterials for designing future human embryonic stem cell therapies.