Separation of beating cardiac myocytes from suspensions of heart cells.

Heart cells were obtained in suspension after incubation with collagenase and hyaluronidase in Saline A. Cardiac myocytes were separated by isopycnic centrifugation in 88.6 to 92.4% purity from other heart cells with different densities, and by velocity or rate-zonal sedimentation, in 92.8 to 97.4% purity from heart cells with different diameters. A previously described computer integration of the differential sedimentation equation was used to determine the centrifugal force, duration of centrifugation and gradient design, which would permit the separation of cardiac myocytes from other heart cells by velocity sedimentation. The myocytes continued to contract rhythmically after being recovered from the density gradients. Velocity sedimentation was superior to isopycnic sedimentation for the separation of cardiac myocytes from heart cell suspensions because it gave the most highly purified myocytes, resulted in recovery of the largest proportion of myocytes in purified fractions from the gradient and required lower centrifugal forces for shorter periods of time. The potential significance of the availability of pure cardiac myocytes is discsused.