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(CA- Puro). 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(CA- Puro) 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(CA- Puro) 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.