Monitoring BNP Expression and Cell Size to Determine Hypertrophic Response in Human Cardiomyocytes

In this application note, iCell® Cardiomyocytes derived from human iPSCs, were used in an in vitro assay to illustrate detection of hypertrophy via increases in cell size and elevated levels of BNP. Cardiac hypertrophy is a condition associated with many heart diseases such as myocardial infarction, ischemia, hypertension, valvular dysfunctions, and is also observed as a toxic side effect of environmental contaminants or pharmaceutical drug candidates. One of the classic biomarkers for hypertrophy is B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), which is over produced in hypertrophic cardiac cells.