Development of human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes and application of fluorescence probe substrate for characterization of cytochrome P450 enzyme 2J2.

Cardiac cytochrome P450 2J2 (CYP2J2) plays a significant role in cardiovascular homeostasis due to its dual functions in drug metabolism and the epoxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Additionally, the inhibition of CYP2J2 by xenobiotics has been linked to drug-induced cardiotoxicity, warranting further investigation of this critical enzyme in cardiac systems. Human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) are physiologically relevant in vitro models that recapitulate relevant phenotypes important for cardiovascular research. However, no studies have so far characterized CYP2J2 expression and activities in these models. Here, we developed and validated H7 hESC-CMs as suitable in vitro models for investigating CYP2J2 in drug metabolism and cardiotoxicity. We first performed the genotyping and confirmed the presence of wild-type CYP2J2∗1/∗1 alleles in wild-type hESCs. Our optimized cardiomyocyte differentiation protocols yielded virtually pure (93.3% ± 6.8%) hESC-CMs, which exhibited P450 epoxygenase mRNA-expression profiles consistent with human cardiomyocytes, with CYP2J2 as the dominant isozyme and minor contributions from CYP2C8 and CYP2C9. By employing a CYP2J2-selective fluorescent substrate, ER-BnXPI, and astemizole as probe substrates, CYP2J2-mediated demethylation of both substrates exhibited typical Michaelis-Menten kinetics, which confirms functional CYP2J2 activities in vitro. Additionally, we demonstrated the capacity of CYP2J2 for arachidonic acid epoxidation, validating its ability to metabolize polyunsaturated fatty acid substrates. Finally, CYP2J2 activity in hESC-CMs was significantly inhibited by danazol and dronedarone, which are established CYP2J2 inhibitors known to cause cardiotoxicity. Ultimately, our study sheds novel insights on hESC-CMs as a suitable model for investigating CYP2J2-mediated metabolism and its inhibition in vitro. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: H7 human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) were developed and validated as an in vitro model for investigating CYP2J2-mediated drug metabolism and its inhibition. By characterizing CYP2J2 transcriptional expression, catalytic activity, and inhibition response to established CYP2J2 inhibitors, our study confirmed functional CYP2J2 in hESC-CMs and ascertained that the model recapitulates the physiology of primary cardiomyocytes. This pioneering research highlights the potential of hESC-CMs in advancing our understanding of CYP2J2-mediated metabolism, its inhibition, and implications in drug-induced cardiotoxicity.