All of the sub-projects rely on the availability of high quality and high purity human cardiomyocytes that have been derived from patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).The overall objective of the Stem Cell Core is to provide the infrastructure, materials, and expertise to support the maintenance, derivation and differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells for PPG investigators. Although primary human cardiomyocytes could ostensibly be collected from patients, the logistics involved in harvesting cells from both control and type 2 diabetic populations make this approach infeasible. In addition, primary cardiac cells have a limited lifespan and cannot be expanded to provide the cell numbers necessary to meet the goals of the PPG. In contrast, human iPSCs can act as an indefatigable reservoir of human cardiomyocytes that can be cultured for over one year.
The specific aims of the Stem Cell Core are therefore to: (1) Reprogram new iPSC lines from non-diabetic and type 2 diabetic patients; (2) Generate reagents under strict quality control that are necessary for iPSC culture; (3) Provide training in the culture, handling, and differentiation of human iPSCs as required by PPG investigators; and (4) Supply purified iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein to PPG investigators.
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