A Method for Producing Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes from Leigh Syndrome Patients for Its Application in Disease Modeling and Drug Validation.

Leigh syndrome (LS), a complex multisystemic disorder, poses significant challenges in genetic medicine due to its intricate pathogenesis and wide-ranging clinical manifestations. Notably, these arise from mutations in either nuclear genetic DNA or mitochondrial DNA, affecting ATP production and resulting in diverse clinical outcomes. The unpredictable trajectory of this disease, ranging from severe developmental delays to early mortality, underscores the need for improved therapeutic solutions. This research pivots toward the novel use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) as a promising platform for understanding disease mechanisms and spearheading patient-specific drug discoveries. Given the past successes of iPSCs in delineating organ-specific disorders and the recent endorsement of human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (CMs) by the FDA for drug evaluation, our work seeks to bridge this innovation to Leigh syndrome research. We detail a methodological approach to generate iPSCs from LS patients and differentiate them into iPSCs-CMs. Using multi-electrode array (MEA) analyses, we evaluate the field potential of these cells, spotlighting the potential of hiPSC-CM in drug validation and disease modeling. This pioneering approach offers a glimpse into the future of patient-centric therapeutic interventions for Leigh/Leigh-like syndrome.