The application of quantitative telomerase activity measurement as an important indicator to monitor the cardiomyocyte differentiation process of human induced pluripotent stem cells under defined conditions

Abstract

The construction of an in vitro differentiation system for human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) has made exciting progress, but it is still of great significance to clarify the differentiation process. The use of conventional genetic and protein-labeled microscopes to observe or detect different stages of hiPSC differentiation is not specific enough and is cumbersome and time-consuming. In this study, in addition to analyzing the expression of gene/protein-related markers, we used a previously reported simple and excellent quantitative method of cellular telomerase activity based on a quartz crystal microbalance (TREAQ) device to monitor the dynamic changes in cellular telomerase activity in hiPSCs during myocardial differentiation under chemically defined conditions. Finally, by integrating these results, we analyzed the relationship between telomerase activity and the expression of marker genes/proteins as well as the cell type at each study time point. This dynamic quantitative measurement of cellular telomerase activity should be a promising indicator for monitoring dynamic changes in a stage of hiPSC differentiation and inducing cell types. This study provided a quantitative, dynamic and simple monitoring index for the in vitro differentiation process of hiPSC-CMs, which was a certain reference value for the optimization and improvement of the induction system.