β-blockers in congenital short-QT syndrome as ion channel blockers

Antiarrhythmic Effects of Vernakalant in Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes from a Patient with Short QT Syndrome Type 1

(1) Background: Short QT syndrome (SQTS) may result in sudden cardiac death. So far, no drugs, except quinidine, have been demonstrated to be effective in some patients with SQTS type 1 (SQTS1). This study was designed to examine the potential effectiveness of vernakalant for treating SQTS1 patients, using human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) from a patient with SQTS1. (2) Methods: Patch clamp and calcium imaging techniques were used to examine the drug effects. (3) Results: Vernakalant prolonged the action potential duration (APD) in hiPSC-CMs from a SQTS1-patient (SQTS1-hiPSC-CMs). In spontaneously beating SQTS1-hiPSC-CMs, vernakalant reduced the arrhythmia-like events induced by carbachol plus epinephrine. Vernakalant failed to suppress the hERG channel currents but reduced the outward small-conductance calcium-activated potassium channel current. In addition, it enhanced Na/Ca exchanger currents and late sodium currents, in agreement with its APD-prolonging effect. (4) Conclusions: The results demonstrated that vernakalant can prolong APD and reduce arrhythmia-like events in SQTS1-hiPSC-CMs and may be a candidate drug for treating arrhythmias in SQTS1-patients.

Effects of Antiarrhythmic Drugs on hERG Gating in Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes From a Patient With Short QT Syndrome Type 1

Aims: The short QT syndrome type 1 (SQT1) is linked to hERG channel mutations (e.g., N588K). Drug effects on hERG channel gating kinetics in SQT1-cells have not been investigated. Methods: This study used hiPSC-CMs of a healthy donor and a SQT1-patient carrying the N588K mutation and patch clamp to examine the drug effects on hERG channel gating kinetics. Results: Ajmaline, amiodarone, ivabradine, flecainide, quinidine, mexiletine and ranolazine inhibited the hERG channel current (I_Kr) less strongly in hiPSC-CMs from the SQTS1-patient (SQT1-hiPSC-CMs) comparing with cells from the healthy donor (donor-hiPSC-CMs). Quinidine and mexiletine reduced, but ajmaline, amiodarone, ivabradine and ranolazine increased the time to peak of I_Kr similarly in SQT1-hiPSC-CMs and donor-hiPSC-CMs. Although regarding the shift of activation and inactivation curves, tested drugs showed differential effects in donor- and SQT1-hiPSC-CMs, quinidine, ajmaline, ivabradine and mexiletine but not amiodarone, flecainide and ranolazine reduced the window current in SQT1-hiPSC-CMs. Quinidine, ajmaline, ivabradine and mexiletine differentially changed the time constant of recovery from inactivation, but all of them increased the time constant of deactivation in SQT1-hiPSC-CMs. Conclusion: The window current-reducing and deactivation-slowing effects may be important for the antiarrhythmic effect of ajmaline, ivabradine, quinidine and mexiletine in SQT1-cells. This information may be helpful for selecting drugs for treating SQT1-patients with hERG channel mutation.

Computational prediction of drug response in short QT syndrome type 1 based on measurements of compound effect in stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes

Short QT (SQT) syndrome is a genetic cardiac disorder characterized by an abbreviated QT interval of the patient's electrocardiogram. The syndrome is associated with increased risk of arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death and can arise from a number of ion channel mutations. Cardiomyocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells generated from SQT patients (SQT hiPSC-CMs) provide promising platforms for testing pharmacological treatments directly in human cardiac cells exhibiting mutations specific for the syndrome. However, a difficulty is posed by the relative immaturity of hiPSC-CMs, with the possibility that drug effects observed in SQT hiPSC-CMs could be very different from the corresponding drug effect in vivo. In this paper, we apply a multistep computational procedure for translating measured drug effects from these cells to human QT response. This process first detects drug effects on individual ion channels based on measurements of SQT hiPSC-CMs and then uses these results to estimate the drug effects on ventricular action potentials and QT intervals of adult SQT patients. We find that the procedure is able to identify IC50 values in line with measured values for the four drugs quinidine, ivabradine, ajmaline and mexiletine. In addition, the predicted effect of quinidine on the adult QT interval is in good agreement with measured effects of quinidine for adult patients. Consequently, the computational procedure appears to be a useful tool for helping predicting adult drug responses from pure in vitro measurements of patient derived cell lines.

Ionic Mechanisms of Disopyramide Prolonging Action Potential Duration in Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes From a Patient With Short QT Syndrome Type 1

Short QT syndrome (SQTS) is associated with tachyarrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. So far, only quinidine has been demonstrated to be effective in patients with SQTS type 1(SQTS1). The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms of disopyramide underlying its antiarrhythmic effects in SQTS1 with the N588K mutation in HERG channel. Human-induced pluripotent stem cell–derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) from a patient with SQTS1 and a healthy donor, patch clamp, and calcium imaging measurements were employed to assess the drug effects. Disopyramide prolonged the action potential duration (APD) in hiPSC-CMs from a SQTS1-patient (SQTS1-hiPSC-CMs). In spontaneously beating SQTS1-hiPSC-CMs challenged by carbachol plus epinephrine, disopyramide reduced the arrhythmic events. Disopyramide enhanced the inward L-type calcium channel current (I_Ca-L), the late sodium channel current (late I_Na) and the Na/Ca exchanger current (I_NCX), but it reduced the outward small-conductance calcium-activated potassium channel current (I_SK), leading to APD-prolongation. Disopyramide displayed no effects on the rapidly and slowly activating delayed rectifier and ATP-sensitive potassium channel currents. In hiPSC-CMs from the healthy donor, disopyramide reduced peak I_Na, I_Ca-L, I_Kr, and I_SK but enhanced late I_Na and I_NCX. The results demonstrated that disopyramide may be effective for preventing tachyarrhythmias in SQTS1-patients carrying the N588K mutation in HERG channel by APD-prolongation via enhancing I_Ca-L, late I_Na, I_NCX, and reducing I_SK.

Drug Testing in Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes From a Patient With Short QT Syndrome Type 1

Short QT syndrome (SQTS) predisposes afflicted patients to sudden cardiac death. Until now, only one drug-quinidine-has been shown to be effective in patients with SQTS type 1(SQTS1). The objective of this study was to use human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) from a patient with SQTS1 to search for potentially effective drugs for the treatment of SQTS1 patients. Patch clamp and single-cell contraction measurements were employed to assess drug effects. Ivabradine, mexiletine, and ajmaline but not flecainide, ranolazine, or amiodarone prolonged the action potential duration (APD) in hiPSC-CMs from an SQTS1 patient. Ivabradine, ajmaline, and mexiletine inhibited KCNH2 channel currents significantly, which may underlie their APD-prolonging effects. Under proarrhythmic epinephrine stimulation in spontaneously beating SQTS1 hiPSC-CMs, ivabradine, mexiletine, and ajmaline but not flecainide reduced the epinephrine-induced arrhythmic events. The results demonstrate that ivabradine, ajmaline, and mexiletine may be candidate drugs for preventing tachyarrhythmias in SQTS1 patients.

Modeling Short QT Syndrome Using Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes

BACKGROUND

Short QT syndrome (SQTS), a disorder associated with characteristic ECG QT-segment abbreviation, predisposes affected patients to sudden cardiac death. Despite some progress in assessing the organ-level pathophysiology and genetic changes of the disorder, the understanding of the human cellular phenotype and discovering of an optimal therapy has lagged because of a lack of appropriate human cellular models of the disorder. The objective of this study was to establish a cellular model of SQTS using human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs).

METHODS AND RESULTS

This study recruited 1 patient with short QT syndrome type 1 carrying a mutation (N588K) in KCNH2 as well as 2 healthy control subjects. We generated hiPSCs from their skin fibroblasts, and differentiated hiPSCs into cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) for physiological and pharmacological studies. The hiPSC-CMs from the patient showed increased rapidly activating delayed rectifier potassium channel current (IKr) density and shortened action potential duration compared with healthy control hiPSC-CMs. Furthermore, they demonstrated abnormal calcium transients and rhythmic activities. Carbachol increased the arrhythmic events in SQTS but not in control cells. Gene and protein expression profiling showed increased KCNH2 expression in SQTS cells. Quinidine but not sotalol or metoprolol prolonged the action potential duration and abolished arrhythmic activity induced by carbachol.

CONCLUSIONS

Patient-specific hiPSC-CMs are able to recapitulate single-cell phenotype features of SQTS and provide novel opportunities to further elucidate the cellular disease mechanism and test drug effects.