On-chip in vitro cell-network pre-clinical cardiac toxicity using spatiotemporal human cardiomyocyte measurement on a chip

To overcome the limitations and misjudgments of conventional prediction of arrhythmic cardiotoxicity, we have developed an on-chip in vitro predictive cardiotoxicity assay using cardiomyocytes derived from human stem cells employing a constructive spatiotemporal two step measurement of fluctuation (short-term variability; STV) of cell's repolarization and cell-to-cell conduction time, representing two origins of lethal arrhythmia. Temporal STV of field potential duration (FPD) showed a potential to predict the risks of lethal arrhythmia originated from repolarization dispersion for false negative compounds, which was not correctly predicted by conventional measurements using animal cells, even for non-QT prolonging clinical positive compounds. Spatial STV of conduction time delay also unveiled the proarrhythmic risk of asynchronous propagation in cell networks, whose risk cannot be correctly predicted by single-cell-based measurements, indicating the importance of the spatiotemporal fluctuation viewpoint of in vitro cell networks for precise prediction of lethal arrhythmia reaching clinical assessment such as thorough QT assay.