Measurement of Antibody Effects on Cellular Function of Isolated Cardiomyocytes

1. IgG Isolation from Patient Samples

1. Prepare mini-immunoadsorption columns by filling 3 ml anti-IgG sepharose per 2 ml patient EDTA plasma into an empty Econo Pac column. IgG isolation requires at least 2 ml of patient plasma.
2. Place a filter on top of the anti-IgG sepharose, cut open the lower tip of the column and press the filter to reach a flow rate of approximately 1 drop/sec. Let the preservation solution run out of the column.
3. Wash the column with 3 volumes 0.9% NaCl per volume of plasma.
4. Pipette the plasma on the column. When the plasma has completely immersed in the anti-IgG sepharose, wash with the same volume 0.9% NaCl.
5. Pipette one plasma volume of 0.2 M glycine HCl, pH 2.8 on the column and let immerse into the sepharose. Add another volume of glycine HCl onto the column. Collect the flow through in a 15 ml tube and adjust the pH to 7.3 with 0.5 M Tris-HCl, pH 8.0.
6. To regenerate the column, wash with 3 plasma volumes glycine HCl. After a final wash with 2 volumes 0.9% NaCl, the column may be used for the next plasma sample. Alternatively, the column can be filled with preservation solution and stored at 4 – 8 °C for up to 4 weeks.
7. For use on cardiomyocytes, the collected IgG fraction has to be dialyzed against experimental buffer (EB). For preparation of EB, add 117 mM NaCl, 2.8 mM KCl, 0.6 mM MgCl₂, 1.2 mM KH₂PO₄, 1.2 mM CaCl₂,10 mM HEPES and 20 mM glucose to 1 L distilled water on a magnetic stirrer and adjust pH to 7.3.
8. Fill the IgG fraction to a cellulose ester dialysis membrane tube with a molecular weight cut off of 100 kDa. Put the tube in 1 L EB and stir slowly with a magnetic stirrer at 4 °C. After 8 hr, transfer the dialysis tube into 3 L of fresh EB and dialyze for another 20 hr at 4 °C.
9. Following dialysis, heat the sample for 30 min at 57 °C in a water bath to inactivate complement factors. Determine total IgG concentration and prepare aliquots containing 330 μg IgG each. When adding the sample to cardiomyocytes for measurement (step 4.3), fill up the aliquots to 1 ml with EB. Undiluted aliquots can be stored at -20 °C until further use.

2. Isolation of Rat Cardiomyocytes

1. For preparation of Ca²⁺-free isolation buffer (IB), add 110 mM NaCl, 2.6 mM KCl, 1.2 mM MgSO₄, 1.2 mM KH₂PO₄, 20 mM HEPES and 11 mM glucose to 1 L distilled water using a magnetic stirrer. Adjust pH to 7.4 at room temperature and filter through a 0.2 μm bottle top filter for sterilization.
2. Fill 80 ml of IB in the upper reservoir of a thermostated Langendorff perfusion system. Adjust thermostat settings to maintain a buffer temperature of 37 °C and aerate buffer with 95% O₂/5% CO₂ for 30 min.
3. Weigh approximately 10,000 – 12,000 U of collagenase type II, 175 mg fatty acid free BSA and dissolve in 20 ml IB containing 22.5 μl of a 100 mM CaCl₂ stock solution. Control the pH of the isolation buffer in the upper reservoir and adjust if required.
4. Anaesthetize a Wistar rat of 175 – 200 g with 375 μg/kg body weight thiopental. Add 2500 IU Heparin to thiopental solution. After thoracotomy, excise the heart carefully with an intact aortic arch and transfer it into ice-cold 0.9% NaCl. Clean the heart from blood and surrounding tissue and transfer to fresh 0.9% NaCl. Expose the aorta, open the flow reducer of the Langendorff system to obtain a dropping speed of 2-3/sec and attach the heart to the cannula.
5. Perfuse the heart for up to 3 min with a flow rate of 1 drop/sec to wash out remaining blood. Start to circulate the IB in the Langendorff system. Remove 20 ml buffer from the upper reservoir, fill in the collagenase solution and refill as much buffer as required to reach 80 ml. Circulate the collagenase solution for another 27 min. Flow rate should be controlled periodically and maintained at 1 drop/sec using the flow reducer.
6. Detach the heart from the cannula, clean from atria and aorta and chop into small pieces. Allow the collagenase solution to run into the lower reservoir, reduce the volume to a maximum of 40 ml and further digest the chopped ventricles for 10 – 15 min under continuous aeration with 95% O₂/5% CO₂. Afterwards, filter the cell suspension through a 200 μm mesh size gauze into a 50 ml tube.
7. Restore the Ca²⁺ content of the cells in 3 steps: centrifuge the cell suspension at 43 x g for 2 min at room temperature and resuspend cells in 10 ml IB containing 200 μM CaCl₂. Centrifuge again and resuspend cells in 10 ml IB with 500 μM CaCl₂. After a final centrifugation resuspend cardiomyocytes in sterile filtered EB (see 1.8) to a density of 50,000 cells/ml.

3. Fura-2 Staining of Cardiomyocytes

1. Coat a 4 well chambered coverglass with 10 μg laminin per well and wait until it is fully dried.
2. Fill 1 ml of the cardiomyocyte suspension into each well using a micropipette with a cut tip. Allow the cells to adhere for 1 hr at room temperature.
3. Dilute 10 μl of the 1 mg/ml Fura-2 AM stock solution in 5 ml EB. Keep the staining solution in the dark.
4. Take off buffer and unattached cells from the coverglass and pipette 0.5 ml of the staining solution into each well. Incubate the cells for 10 min under moderate shaking. Subsequently, take off the staining solution, wash cells once with 1 ml EB and finally fill 0.5 ml EB into each well. Avoid direct light during the staining process and always keep the stained cells in the dark.

4. Recording of Cell Shortening and Ca²⁺ Transients

1. Place the chambered coverglass on an inverse fluorescence microscope connected to a myocyte calcium and contractility recording system. Position a custom made electrode with an influx and efflux tube in the first well. Superfuse cardiomyocytes with 1 ml/min EB and start the electric stimulation (20 V, 1 Hz, 5 msec duration). Allow the cells to adapt to the stimulation for about 2 min.
2. Choose an intact rod shaped cardiomyocyte with clear striation and constant contraction. Position the cell in the center of the visual field and open the camera channel. Orientate the cell horizontally within the video area by rotating the cell framing adapter and moving the microscope stage.
3. Adjust the edge detecting control elements of the video area (Figure 2), open the fluorescent channel and record 10 – 15 contractions to obtain the initial cell shortening and Ca²⁺ transient.
4. Close the microscope light channel to avoid bleaching of the fluorescence stain. Switch the flow through from EB to the sample bypass with a 3-way valve and superfuse cardiomyocytes with 1 ml of patient IgG. Stop the pump just before air reaches the well.
5. Open the light channel and record another 10 – 15 contractions to obtain the acute cell response. Pause the recording and close the light channel again. Repeat recording after 2 and 5 min.
6. Take out the electrode of the well. Clean the tubes thoroughly with EB and continue with the next well of the chambered coverglass.
7. Analyze the cell shortening and Ca²⁺ transient with the IonWizard software using the “Edge-Length/Length” and the “fura 2-Numeric subtracted/Ratio” window, respectively. Calculate the percent change from the initial cell shortening and Ca²⁺ transient of the peak height referred to the baseline (bl%peak h) for the acute, the 2 min and the 5 min response.