Abstract 342: Serum Albumin Hydrogels Alter Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Neonatal Rat Myocytes and Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Cardiomyocytes

Tissue engineering provides a promising method of introducing functional cardiomyocytes (CMs) to damaged myocardium after myocardial infarction; however, finding a biocompatible construct with the chemical and mechanical properties capable of supporting CM function is challenging. Serum albumin hydrogels are novel autogenic scaffolds with elastic properties that can be tailored to mimic the stiffness of native adult myocardium. We assessed the hypothesis that culturing immature CMs on these serum albumin hydrogels would affect CM gene expression and calcium handling. Neonatal cardiomyocyte (NRVM) viability was maintained for at least 14 days on the hydrogels, with clear sarcomeric striations. Cardiac gene expression was quantified using RT-qPCR and demonstrated an up regulation in many genes of cells cultured on hydrogels compared to glass (e.g. relative expression (log 2-ΔΔCt) of ryanodine receptor 2: glass= -2.3±0.5, hydrogel= -0.3±0.1,pin vivo for cardiac repair.