scholarly journals p38α Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Plays a Critical Role in Cardiomyocyte Survival but Not in Cardiac Hypertrophic Growth in Response to Pressure Overload

2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (24) ◽  
pp. 10611-10620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiko Nishida ◽  
Osamu Yamaguchi ◽  
Shinichi Hirotani ◽  
Shungo Hikoso ◽  
Yoshiharu Higuchi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The molecular mechanism for the transition from cardiac hypertrophy, an adaptive response to biomechanical stress, to heart failure is poorly understood. The mitogen-activated protein kinase p38α is a key component of stress response pathways in various types of cells. In this study, we attempted to explore the in vivo physiological functions of p38α in hearts. First, we generated mice with floxed p38α alleles and crossbred them with mice expressing the Cre recombinase under the control of the α-myosin heavy-chain promoter to obtain cardiac-specific p38α knockout mice. These cardiac-specific p38α knockout mice were born normally, developed to adulthood, were fertile, exhibited a normal life span, and displayed normal global cardiac structure and function. In response to pressure overload to the left ventricle, they developed significant levels of cardiac hypertrophy, as seen in controls, but also developed cardiac dysfunction and heart dilatation. This abnormal response to pressure overload was accompanied by massive cardiac fibrosis and the appearance of apoptotic cardiomyocytes. These results demonstrate that p38α plays a critical role in the cardiomyocyte survival pathway in response to pressure overload, while cardiac hypertrophic growth is unaffected despite its dramatic down-regulation.

Life ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 357
Author(s):  
Volodymyr V. Balatskyi ◽  
Oksana L. Palchevska ◽  
Lina Bortnichuk ◽  
Ana-Maria Gan ◽  
Anna Myronova ◽  
...  

The role of canonical Wnt signaling in metabolic regulation and development of physiological cardiac hypertrophy remains largely unknown. To explore the function of β-catenin in the regulation of cardiac metabolism and physiological cardiac hypertrophy development, we used mice heterozygous for cardiac-specific β-catenin knockout that were subjected to a swimming training model. β-Catenin haploinsufficient mice subjected to endurance training displayed a decreased β-catenin transcriptional activity, attenuated cardiomyocytes hypertrophic growth, and enhanced activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), phosphoinositide-3-kinase–Akt (Pi3K–Akt), and mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (MAPK/Erk1/2) signaling pathways compared to trained wild type mice. We further observed an increased level of proteins involved in glucose aerobic metabolism and β-oxidation along with perturbed activity of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation complexes (OXPHOS) in trained β-catenin haploinsufficient mice. Taken together, Wnt/β-catenin signaling appears to govern metabolic regulatory programs, sustaining metabolic plasticity in adult hearts during the adaptation to endurance training.


2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-223
Author(s):  
Mohamad Nusier ◽  
Mohammad Alqudah ◽  
Vijayan Elimban ◽  
Naranjan S. Dhalla

This study examined the effects of ischemic preconditioning (IP) on the ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) induced injury in normal and hypertrophied hearts. Cardiac hypertrophy in rabbits was induced by L-thyroxine (0.5 mg/kg/day for 16 days). Hearts with or without IP (3 cycles of 5 min ischemia and 10 min reperfusion) were subjected to I/R (60 min ischemia followed by 60 min reperfusion). IP reduced the I/R-induced infarct size from 68% to 24% and 57% to 33% in the normal and hypertrophied hearts, respectively. Leakage of creatine phosphokinase in the perfusate from the hypertrophied hearts due to I/R was markedly less than that form the normal hearts; IP prevented these changes. Although IP augmented the increase in phosphorylated p38-mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38-MAPK) content due to I/R, this effect was less in the hypertrophied than in the normal heart. These results suggest that reduced cardioprotection by IP of the I/R-induced injury in hypertrophied hearts may be due to reduced activation of p38-MAPK in comparison with normal hearts.


2018 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingyu Hou ◽  
Wenhui Wang ◽  
Feizi Hu ◽  
Yuanxing Zhang ◽  
Dahai Yang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Bacterial phosphothreonine lyases have been identified to be type III secretion system (T3SS) effectors that irreversibly dephosphorylate host mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling to promote infection. However, the effects of phosphothreonine lyase on nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling remain largely unknown. In this study, we detected significant phosphothreonine lyase-dependent p65 degradation during Edwardsiella piscicida infection in macrophages, and this degradative effect was blocked by the protease inhibitor MG132. Further analysis revealed that phosphothreonine lyase promotes the dephosphorylation and ubiquitination of p65 by inhibiting the phosphorylation of mitogen- and stress-activated protein kinase-1 (MSK1) and by inhibiting the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-related kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), p38α, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Moreover, we revealed that the catalytic active site of phosphothreonine lyase plays a critical role in regulating the MAPK-MSK1-p65 signaling axis. Collectively, the mechanism described here expands our understanding of the pathogenic effector in not only regulating MAPK signaling but also regulating p65. These findings uncover a new mechanism by which pathogenic bacteria overcome host innate immunity to promote pathogenesis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Lin ◽  
Le Guan ◽  
Liping Meng ◽  
Hiroyasu Uzui ◽  
Hangyuan Guo

Background: Cardiac fibroblast (CF) activation is a hallmark feature of cardiac fibrosis in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). Inhibition of the sodium-dependent glucose transporter 1 (SGLT1) attenuates cardiomyocyte apoptosis and delays the development of DCM. However, the role of SGLT1 in CF activation remains unclear.Methods: A rat model of DCM was established and treated with si‐SGLT1 to examine cardiac fibrosis. In addition, in vitro experiments were conducted to verify the regulatory role of SGLT1 in proliferation and collagen secretion in high-glucose– (HG–) treated CFs.Results: SGLT1 was found to be upregulated in diabetic cardiac tissues and HG-induced CFs. HG stimulation resulted in increased proliferation and migration, increased the expression of transforming growth factor-β1 and collagen I and collagen III, and increased phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2. These trends in HG-treated CFs were significantly reversed by si-SGLT1. Moreover, the overexpression of SGLT1 promoted CF proliferation and collagen synthesis and increased phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and ERK1/2. SGLT1 silencing significantly alleviated cardiac fibrosis, but had no effect on cardiac hypertrophy in diabetic hearts.Conclusion: These findings provide new information on the role of SGLT1 in CF activation, suggesting a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of DCM fibrosis.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (549) ◽  
pp. eaar3721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bishuang Cai ◽  
Canan Kasikara ◽  
Amanda C. Doran ◽  
Rajasekhar Ramakrishnan ◽  
Raymond B. Birge ◽  
...  

Inflammation resolution counterbalances excessive inflammation and restores tissue homeostasis after injury. Failure of resolution contributes to the pathology of numerous chronic inflammatory diseases. Resolution is mediated by endogenous specialized proresolving mediators (SPMs), which are derived from long-chain fatty acids by lipoxygenase (LOX) enzymes. 5-LOX plays a critical role in the biosynthesis of two classes of SPMs: lipoxins and resolvins. Cytoplasmic localization of the nonphosphorylated form of 5-LOX is essential for SPM biosynthesis, whereas nuclear localization of phosphorylated 5-LOX promotes proinflammatory leukotriene production. We previously showed that MerTK, an efferocytosis receptor on macrophages, promotes SPM biosynthesis by increasing the abundance of nonphosphorylated, cytoplasmic 5-LOX. We now show that activation of MerTK in human macrophages led to ERK-mediated expression of the gene encoding sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase 2 (SERCA2), which decreased the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration and suppressed the activity of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). This, in turn, reduced the activities of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) p38 and the kinase MK2, resulting in the increased abundance of the nonphosphorylated, cytoplasmic form of 5-LOX and enhanced SPM biosynthesis. In a zymosan-induced peritonitis model, an inflammatory setting in which macrophage MerTK activation promotes resolution, inhibition of ERK activation delayed resolution, which was characterized by an increased number of neutrophils and decreased amounts of SPMs in tissue exudates. These findings contribute to our understanding of how MerTK signaling induces 5-LOX–derived SPM biosynthesis and suggest a therapeutic strategy to boost inflammation resolution in settings where defective resolution promotes disease progression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panpan Chen ◽  
Zhaoqin Wen ◽  
Wanlan Shi ◽  
Zhongli Li ◽  
Xiaoyan Chen ◽  
...  

As a common complication of many cardiovascular diseases, cardiac hypertrophy is characterized by increased cardiac cell volume, reorganization of the cytoskeleton, and the reactivation of fetal genes such as cardiac natriuretic peptide and β-myosin heavy chain. Cardiac hypertrophy is a distinguishing feature of some cardiovascular diseases. Our previous study showed that sodium ferulate (SF) alleviates myocardial hypertrophy induced by coarctation of the abdominal aorta, and these protective effects may be related to the inhibition of protein kinase C (PKC) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. This study investigated the inhibitory effect and mechanism of SF on myocardial hypertrophy in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). The effects of SF on cardiac hypertrophy were evaluated using echocardiographic measurement, pathological analysis, and detection of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and β-myosin heavy chain (β-MHC) expression. To investigate the mechanisms underlying the anti-hypertrophic effects of SF, the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR), calcineurin (CaN), nuclear factor of activated T cells 3 (NFAT3), zinc finger transcription factor 4 (GATA4), protein kinase C beta (PKC-β), Raf-1, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK 1/2), and mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) were detected by molecular biology techniques. Treatment with SF ameliorated myocardial hypertrophy in 26-week-old SHRs. In addition, it downregulated the levels of ANP, β-MHC, CaSR, CaN, NFAT3, phosphorylated GATA4 (p-GATA4), PKC-β, Raf-1, and p-ERK 1/2; and upregulated the levels of p-NFAT3 and MKP-1. These results suggest that the effects of SF on cardiac hypertrophy are related to regulation of the CaSR-mediated signaling pathway.


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