Applicability of the P19CL6 cells as a model of cardiomyocytes – a transcriptome analysis

Abstract

The P19CL6 cell-line, a clone of the P19 mouse embryonal carcinoma cell-line, has been extensively used as a model for cardiomyocytes as these cells can be differentiated into a cardiomyocyte phenotype upon incubation with dimethyl sulfoxide. Uniquely, these cells can be observed to “beat” when monitored by microscopy. We started investigating the response of P19CL6 cells to fatty acids, but highly variable results lead us to investigate the phenotype of the P19CL6 cells in more depth. In this study we demonstrated that the P19CL6 cells are responsive to adrenaline, but lose the “beating” phenotype after 16 passages in culture. Analysis of specific mRNA transcripts indicated that the P19CL6 cells express both cardiac- and skeletal muscle-specific genes, while global analysis of microarray data showed clear differences between the P19CL6 cells and cardiac tissue of embryonic or adult origin. In conclusion, our observations suggest caution in the use of the P19CL6 cells as a model of cardiomyocytes unless rigorous validation for the intended analysis has been undertaken.