Microscopy-based cellular contractility assay for adult, neonatal, and hiPSC cardiomyocytes

Summary: This protocol provides instructions to acquire high-quality cellular contractility data from adult, neonatal, and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Contractility parameters are key to unravel mechanisms underlying cardiac pathologies, yet difficulties in acquiring data can compromise measurement accuracy and reproducibility. We provide optimized steps for microscope and camera setup, as well as cellular selection criteria for different cardiomyocyte cell types, aiming to obtain robust and reliable data. Moreover, we use CONTRACTIONWAVE software to analyze and show the optimized results.For complete details on the use and execution of this profile, please refer to Scalzo et al. (2021).