4. It is normal to observe significant cell death after 24 h. How-
ever, if there are little to no cells attached to the well, the cells
had not reached appropriate confluence (95–100%) before
differentiation. Seed cells again and wait the cells to reach
95–100% confluence before CHIR treatment.
5. Record the time when CHIR is added as the medium must be
changed at exactly 24 h later.
6. Cells with transparent and web-like morphology will appear,
and cell death will continue to be observed during this period
as well.
7. Cardiomyocytes require longer incubation times before suc-
cessfully detaching. Using a preferred single-cell dissociation
reagent incubate for longer time compared to normal mono-
layer cultures. After 15 min of incubation, attempt to remove
cells from cell attachment surface by pipetting. However, if cells
remain attached, place plate back into incubator to incubate for
another 15 min. Stop incubation once cells easily detach after
pipetting.
8. Cardiomyocytes can be clumpy despite dissociation, upon
noticing clumps after fixing cells, consider filtering cells before
running flow cytometry to avoid damaging the machine and
producing false positives.
9. As a guideline, successfully differentiated hiPSCs lines have a
low expression of HNF4a (below 40%) and CD44 (below 40%)
and high expression in NKX2-5 (60–80%), cTnT (80–83%),
and MLC2a (65–70%) [3].
10. Work by adding the largest volume reagent (DMEM/F12)
first, followed by the Cytodex® 1 MCs then Geltrex™. To
prepare
Geltrex™,
refer
to
Gibco’s
user
guide
#MAN0007332 Rev. 3.0. Geltrex™-coated MCs are always
prepared at least a day before use and can be stored in 4 C
until ready for use.
11. Use a serological pipet to remove supernatant instead of aspir-
ating, Cytodex® 1 compacts weakly and will be easily removed
if aspirating.
12. In cases where cell clumps are seen but when resuspension is
not working, filter cells through a 40-μm cell strainer. This is to
ensure a complete single-cell suspension.
13. When observing cells over the course of 6 days, ensure cells are
not over-confluent on MCs. Robust and fast-growing cell lines
can be evaluated earlier after 5 days [3].
14. It is recommended to cut tips when pipetting MC clumps to
ensure clumps are not stuck. When obtaining cell counts, it is
recommended to use a cut tip to properly dissociate cells.
78
Valerie Ho et al.