Researchers used the Roche’s cardio instrument to carry out dose-response profiling of 60 pharmaceutical drugs including the drugs withdrawn from the market due to TdP arrhythmia, hERG trafficking inhibitors, chronotropic/ionotropic agents and ion channel modulators.
The evaluation of the system proved to be sensitive and quantitative in detecting modulators of cardiac function, including compounds missed by electrophysiology.
The key finding was that pro-arrhythmic compounds produced distinct signature profiles that reflect arrhythmia.
The data obtained through the time series can be used to detect compounds which induce arrhythmia by complex mechanisms such as hERG trafficking inhibition.
The time resolution aids in evualating compounds which simultaneously impact both viability of cardiomyocytes and beating.
Roche Applied Science Cellular Analysis life cycle leader Ruedi Stoffel said furthermore, the system can be used with mouse ESCC, as well as other beating cardiomyocytes such as those derived from human induced-pluripotent stem cell, human embryonic stem cell and primary cardiomyocytes isolated from neonatal rats, thus further expanding the capabilities of the system.