Comparative cardiac induction time-courses using wild-type or genetically modified human embryonic stem cells

This study compares directed cardiac differentiation time-courses using (i) HuES6 cells with endogenous ISL1 knockout + inducible ISL1 transgene, and (ii) wild-type HuES6 cells. For the first series, a subset of samples was left untreated (= ISL1 knockout scenario) while another subset received doxycycline treatment to upregulate ISL1 at days 3 and 4 of differentiation (ISL1 rescue). For the second series, a subset of samples was differentiated under default conditions (no RA) while another subset received retinoic acid (RA) on days 3 and 4 of differentiation, which leads to an atrial-like phenotype. Total RNA was isolated in a time course manner from the distinct series of differentiating samples (on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8). Note that the two subsets of each series are only diverging from day 4 onwards.