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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2024 Apr 26.
Published in final edited form as: Circ Res. 2022 Mar 31;130(7):978–980. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.122.320951

Figure. Discovery of novel anti-COVID drugs with ESC-derived SAN-like pacemaker cells.

Figure.

Modulating CM differentiation protocol with chemically defined in-house protocol by Han et al led to generating a pure population of SAN-like pacemaker cells (MYH6+, SHOX2+) with electrophysiological characteristics of pacemaker cells. SAN-like pacemaker cells were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and ferroptosis was an underlying mechanism of arrhythmias in COVID-19. Screening >1,000 FDA-approved drugs led to Deferoxamine and Imatinib being identified as novel anti-COVID-19 drugs modulating ferroptosis in SAN-like pacemaker cells. hESC, human embryonic stem cell; CM, cardiomyocyte; SAN, sinoatrial node; AP, action potential;