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Article A novel approach to the Langendorff technique: Preparation o...

Regards

Hi Khalid Al-Salhie,

Thanks for the answer but I haven't found the linked paper relevant to the meaning of perfusion before getting heart cells. It just says an updated perfusion tech.

best,

J

Perfusion of the organ with a perfusate buffer provides both a source of oxygenation and additional substrates and an ionic balance that promotes survival of the ex vivo organ. This decreases the cell death process during digestion and mechanical separation of the heart for isolation of cardiac myocytes. Anecdotally, I've never tried simply rinsing and mincing the heart without the use of a perfusion buffer and digestion.

There is a paper recently published that details isolation of cardiac myocytes without a langendorff apparatus. However they still fully perfuse the heart with a perfusion buffer containing EDTA prior to digestion and mechanical separation. A link to the article: http://circres.ahajournals.org/content/119/8/909.long I have not yet tried this method personally but plan on giving it a shot in the near future.

In summation perfusion buffer improves survival and ultimately yield of isolated cardiac myocytes, I can not say that you won't figure out a way to do it without a perfusion or a perfusion buffer, but their use will probably make your life ultimately easier.