scholarly journals UBC9-Mediated Sumoylation Favorably Impacts Cardiac Function in Compromised Hearts

2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (12) ◽  
pp. 1894-1905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manish K. Gupta ◽  
Patrick M. McLendon ◽  
James Gulick ◽  
Jeanne James ◽  
Kamel Khalili ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Function ◽  
Protein Quality ◽  
Neonatal Rat ◽  
Autophagic Flux ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Cardiac Stress ◽  
Ventricular Cardiomyocytes

Rationale: SUMOylation plays an important role in cardiac function and can be protective against cardiac stress. Recent studies show that SUMOylation is an integral part of the ubiquitin proteasome system, and expression of the small ubiquitin–like modifier (SUMO) E2 enzyme UBC9 improves cardiac protein quality control. However, the precise role of SUMOylation on other protein degradation pathways, particularly autophagy, remains undefined in the heart. Objective: To determine whether SUMOylation affects cardiac autophagy and whether this effect is protective in a mouse model of proteotoxic cardiac stress. Methods and Results: We modulated expression of UBC9, a SUMO E2 ligase, using gain- and loss-of-function in neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes. UBC9 expression seemed to directly alter autophagic flux. To confirm this effect in vivo, we generated transgenic mice overexpressing UBC9 in cardiomyocytes. These mice have an increased level of SUMOylation at baseline and, in confirmation of the data obtained from neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes, demonstrated increased autophagy, suggesting that increased UBC9-mediated SUMOylation is sufficient to upregulate cardiac autophagy. Finally, we tested the protective role of SUMOylation-mediated autophagy by expressing UBC9 in a model of cardiac proteotoxicity, induced by cardiomyocyte-specific expression of a mutant α-B-crystallin, mutant CryAB (CryAB R120G ), which shows impaired autophagy. UBC9 overexpression reduced aggregate formation, decreased fibrosis, reduced hypertrophy, and improved cardiac function and survival. Conclusions: The data showed that increased UBC9-mediated SUMOylation is sufficient to induce relatively high levels of autophagy and may represent a novel strategy for increasing autophagic flux and ameliorating morbidity in proteotoxic cardiac disease.

Abstract 20118: Defining the Sufficiency of Atg7 to Suppress Phenylephrine-induced Cardiac Hypertrophy

Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Tjeerdsma ◽  
Levi Froke ◽  
Jessica Freeling ◽  
Scott Pattison
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Cardiac Hypertrophy ◽  
Cardiac Function ◽  
Heart Weight ◽  
Autophagic Flux ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Hypertrophic Growth ◽  
Fractional Shortening

Introduction: Macroautophagy is a process of bulk protein degradation. Our prior work showed that Atg7 expression is sufficient to induce autophagic flux in vitro and in vivo . When Atg7 was co-expressed with CryAB R120G in the heart, cardiac hypertrophy was blunted in heart weight/body weight ratios and fetal gene expression markers. To determine if Atg7 expression is sufficient to limit hypertrophic growth in another model, we tested the effects of Atg7 overexpression with phenylephrine-induced hypertrophy both in vitro and in vivo . Hypothesis: Atg7 will blunt the hypertrophic effects of phenylephrine. Methods: Rat neonatal cardiomyocytes were infected with adenoviruses expressing either LacZ or Atg7 and treated with phenylephrine to induce cardiomyocytes hypertrophy. Osmotic pumps were surgically implanted into control mice and mice with cardiac-specific expression of Atg7 to infuse phenylephrine (PE) or vehicle (saline) for four weeks. Results: PE treatment significantly increased neonatal cardiomyocyte areas in LacZ-expressing cells, while Atg7-expressing cardiomyocytes showed no growth. In mice, all genotypes responded to PE treatment with significantly increased heart weight/body weight ratios and increased fiber size. However, Atg7-expressing hearts differed significantly from control hearts in normalized heart mass following PE delivery. Vehicle treated Atg7-expressing hearts had 17% smaller myofiber cross-sectional areas than those from control genotypes and had a reduced hypertrophic response to PE, relative to controls. Echocardiography showed that Atg7-expressing hearts had significantly elevated cardiac function (% fractional shortening) prior to and throughout the experiment over control hearts (33% vs. 29%). PE significantly increased fractional shortening) from 29% to 36% in control hearts, but failed to significantly elevate cardiac function in Atg7-expressing hearts further (33% vs 35%). Additional assays are underway to understand the Atg7-dependent adaptations to PE. Conclusion: Atg7 expression yields modestly smaller hearts with enhanced cardiac function which may protect them from hypertrophic stresses like phenylephrine.

Abstract 14287: Ang II-induced Pathological Autophagy is Inhibited by IL-10 via Akt Dependent Inhibition of Beclin 1 in Mice Heart

Circulation ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 132 (suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suresh K Verma ◽  
Prasanna Krishnamurthy ◽  
Venkata N Girikipathi ◽  
Tatiana Abramova ◽  
Anna Gumpert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Angiotensin Ii ◽  
Chronic Heart Failure ◽  
Cardiac Function ◽  
Beclin 1 ◽  
Neonatal Rat ◽  
Autophagic Flux ◽  
Physical Interaction ◽  
Ang Ii

Although, autophagy is an essential cellular salvage process to maintain cellular homeostasis, pathological autophagy can lead to cardiac abnormalities and ultimately heart failure. Therefore, a tight regulation on autophagic process would be important to treat chronic heart failure. Previously, we have shown that IL-10 strongly improved cardiac function in chronic heart failure models, but the role of IL-10 in regulation of pathological autophagy is not yet investigated. We tested the hypothesis that IL-10 inhibits angiotensin II-induced pathological autophagy and thus improved cardiac function. Pathological autophagy was induced in wild type (WT) and IL10-knockout mice by angiotensin II infusion. Ang II-induced left ventricular dysfunction and hypertrophic remodeling were accentuated in IL-10 KO mice compared to WT mice. IL-10 KO mice showed exaggerated autophagy with reduced AKT phosphorylation. In neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes, Ang II activated beclin1 and LC3 levels and inhibited AKT/mTORC1 and AKT-Bcl2 signaling. IL-10 inhibited Ang II-induced autophagic marker proteins. Additionally, IL-10 restored Ang II effects on AKT/mTORC1 and AKT-Bcl2 signaling. Both pharmacological/molecular inhibition of AKT via PI3K inhibitor (LY290002) or Akt siRNA, attenuated IL-10 effects on the Ang II-induced pathological autophagy, confirming that IL-10 mediated regulation of pathological autophagy is AKT dependent. Similar results were observed with mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin. Chloroquine (a lysosome inhibitor) strongly inhibits Ang II-induced autophagic flux. However, chloroquine did not affect IL-10 effects on autophagic flux, suggesting that IL-10 inhibits stress-induced pathological autophagy. Finally, as physical interaction of Bcl2 with beclin 1 is important to inhibit autophagy and IL-10 is strong activator of Bcl2, we performed immunoprecipitation experiment. Immunoprecipitation data suggested that Ang II disrupt the physical interaction of beclin 1 with Bcl2 and IL-10 reestablished this physical interaction to reduce autophagy. Our data give a novel role of IL-10 in regulation of pathological autophagy and thus can act as a potential therapeutic molecule in treatment of chronic heart disease.

Abstract 5356: Brca1 Is An Essential Regulator Of Cardiac Function

Circulation ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 118 (suppl_18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Praphulla C Shukla ◽  
Krishna K Singh ◽  
Fina Lovren ◽  
Yi Pan ◽  
Guilin Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Function ◽  
Cardiac Dysfunction ◽  
Systolic Dysfunction ◽  
Genotoxic Stress ◽  
Neonatal Rat ◽  
Physical Interaction ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Gain Of Function ◽  
P53 Expression

INTRODUCTION: Preservation of structure and function of the myocardium is critically dependent upon improving the survival of existing cardiomyocytes (CM), through strategies that limit CM apoptosis and DNA damage. BRCA1 is a tumor suppressor gene which functions to promote DNA repair, and protect cells against oxidative and genotoxic stress. We hypothesized that BRCA1 is a novel cellular target to limit CM apoptosis, and prevent aberrant cardiac remodeling. METHODS AND RESULTS: Experimental MI in mice caused a profound 16-fold upregulation in BRCA1 expression, which peaked at 72 hours (p<0.01). In vitro gain-of-function experiments demonstrated that Ad-BRCA1 overexpression protected neonatal rat CM against doxorubicin- and H 2 O 2 -induced apoptosis, as assessed by FACS (p<0.01) and activated caspase-3. Ad-BRCA1-expressing CM exhibited a profound reduction in p53 expression in response to doxorubicin and H 2 O 2 . Co-immunoprecipitation studies demonstrated a distinct physical interaction of BRCA1 with p53. Inhibition of p53, with pifithrin-alpha, blocked doxorubicin-induced CM apoptosis in a manner similar to BRCA1, but BRCA1-overexpressing CM, when treated with doxorubicin did not show further reduction with pifithrin-alpha, indicating an essential requirement of BRCA1 to modulate p53. In vivo gain-of-function studies demonstrated that systemic Ad-BRCA1 delivery completely prevented doxorubicin-induced cardiac dysfunction in mice (echocardiography, p<0.01). In vivo loss-of-function studies were performed in CM -specific BRCA1-KO mice (developed using Cre-lox P technology), which demonstrated marked cardiac dysfunction and mortality in response to doxorubicin administration (p< 0.01 vs. WT + Dox). CONCLUSIONS: We report for the first time an essential role of BRCA1 to limit CM apoptosis, and improve cardiac function in response to genotoxic and oxidative stress. Heart specific deletion of BRCA1 promotes severe systolic dysfunction, and limits survival. In addition to the immediate implications for cardiovascular repair, these data may have ramifications for individuals with BRCA1 mutations or cancer syndromes, particularly in the setting of adjuvant chemotherapy.

Abstract MP151: Cardiomyocyte HIPK2 is a Critical Regulator of Purinergic Signaling Regulated Myocardial Inflammation

2020 ◽  
Vol 127 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tousif Sultan ◽  
Anand P Singh ◽  
Prachi Umbarkar ◽  
QinKun Zhang ◽  
Hind Lal
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Function ◽  
Purinergic Signaling ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Neonatal Rat ◽  
Myocardial Inflammation ◽  
Littermate Control

Objective: Heart failure (HF) is a major and growing public health problem worldwide. Recently our lab has identified HIPK2 as an essential kinase to maintain basal cardiac function. However, the role of cardiomyocytes specific HIPK2 (CM-HIPK2) in myocardial inflammation is unknown. Methods: α-MHC promoter-driven, Cre mice were crossed with HIPK2 fl/fl mice to generate CM-HIPK2 KO. Echocardiography was performed to assess cardiac function. Immunoblotting assays were performed to determine the expression of HIPK2, CD39, CD73, and other signaling pathway . Flow cytometry and ELISA were performed to study the dynamics of inflammation. Results: Consistent with our previous report , echocardiography confirmed an impaired cardiac function in 3 months old CM-HIPK2 KO as compared to their littermate controls. Importantly, cardiac function in the KOs starts to deteriorate at ~2.5 months of age, thus, at two months of age, the cardiac function of KO and littermate control was comparable. Comprehensive immune profiling of CM-HIPK2 KO and littermate control hearts were performed at two months of age. We observed an increased frequency of infiltrated CD45 + leukocytes, CCR2 + pro-inflammatory macrophages, Th17 + , Th9 + , CD45 + TNFα + , CD45 + IL1β + , CD45 + Ki67 + cells but diminished frequency of Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), TCRαβ + CTLA-4 + and TCRαβ + PD-1 + in the CM-HIPK2 KO hearts. Mechanistically, we observed a significantly reduced expression of CD39 and CD73 over HIPK2 deleted cardiomyocytes. Indeed, CD39 and CD73 are the key players of purinergic signaling regulated inflammation response. In-vitro studies with neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (NRVMs) corroborated the in-vivo findings. Specifically, adenovirus-mediated overexpression of HIPK2 significantly increased CD39 expression. Consistently, Ad-shRNA-HIPK2 expression suppressed the CD39 expression. Taken together, our findings suggest a critical role of CM-HIPK2 in purinergic signaling mediated myocardial inflammation. Conclusions: CM-HIPK2 maintains basal cardiac function by controlling purinergic signaling regulated myocardial inflammation. Future work will explore the underlying mechanism of HIPK2 mediated regulation of CD39 and CD73.

Dual specific phosphatase 12 ameliorates cardiac hypertrophy in response to pressure overload

2016 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-ming Li ◽  
Yi-fan Zhao ◽  
Guo-fu Zhu ◽  
Wen-hui Peng ◽  
Meng-yun Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Hypertrophy ◽  
Cardiac Function ◽  
Contractile Function ◽  
Pressure Overload ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Pathological Cardiac Hypertrophy ◽  
Dual Specific Phosphatase

Pathological cardiac hypertrophy is an independent risk factor of heart failure. However, we still lack effective methods to reverse cardiac hypertrophy. DUSP12 is a member of the dual specific phosphatase (DUSP) family, which is characterized by its DUSP activity to dephosphorylate both tyrosine and serine/threonine residues on one substrate. Some DUSPs have been identified as being involved in the regulation of cardiac hypertrophy. However, the role of DUSP12 during pathological cardiac hypertrophy is still unclear. In the present study, we observed a significant decrease in DUSP12 expression in hypertrophic hearts and cardiomyocytes. Using a genetic loss-of-function murine model, we demonstrated that DUSP12 deficiency apparently aggravated pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis as well as impaired cardiac function, whereas cardiac-specific overexpression of DUPS12 was capable of reversing this hypertrophic and fibrotic phenotype and improving contractile function. Furthermore, we demonstrated that JNK1/2 activity but neither ERK1/2 nor p38 activity was increased in the DUSP12 deficient group and decreased in the DUSP12 overexpression group both in vitro and in vivo under hypertrophic stress conditions. Pharmacological inhibition of JNK1/2 activity (SP600125) is capable of reversing the hypertrophic phenotype in DUSP12 knockout (KO) mice. DUSP12 protects against pathological cardiac hypertrophy and related pathologies. This regulatory role of DUSP12 is primarily through c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibition. DUSP12 could be a promising therapeutic target of pathological cardiac hypertrophy. DUSP12 is down-regulated in hypertrophic hearts. An absence of DUSP12 aggravated cardiac hypertrophy, whereas cardiomyocyte-specific DUSP12 overexpression can alleviate this hypertrophic phenotype with improved cardiac function. Further study demonstrated that DUSP12 inhibited JNK activity to attenuate pathological cardiac hypertrophy.

scholarly journals Group III phospholipase A2 downregulation attenuated survival and metastasis in ovarian cancer and promotes chemo-sensitization

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Upasana Ray ◽  
Debarshi Roy ◽  
Ling Jin ◽  
Prabhu Thirusangu ◽  
Julie Staub ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ovarian Cancer ◽  
Cell Viability ◽  
Phospholipase A2 ◽  
Mtt Assay ◽  
Metabolic Inhibitor ◽  
Autophagic Flux ◽  
Ciliated Cells ◽  
Group Iii

Abstract Background Aberrant lipogenicity and deregulated autophagy are common in most advanced human cancer and therapeutic strategies to exploit these pathways are currently under consideration. Group III Phospholipase A2 (sPLA2-III/PLA2G3), an atypical secretory PLA2, is recognized as a regulator of lipid metabolism associated with oncogenesis. Though recent studies reveal that high PLA2G3 expression significantly correlates with poor prognosis in several cancers, however, role of PLA2G3 in ovarian cancer (OC) pathogenesis is still undetermined. Methods CRISPR-Cas9 and shRNA mediated knockout and knockdown of PLA2G3 in OC cells were used to evaluate lipid droplet (LD) biogenesis by confocal and Transmission electron microscopy analysis, and the cell viability and sensitization of the cells to platinum-mediated cytotoxicity by MTT assay. Regulation of primary ciliation by PLA2G3 downregulation both genetically and by metabolic inhibitor PFK-158 induced autophagy was assessed by immunofluorescence-based confocal analysis and immunoblot. Transient transfection with GFP-RFP-LC3B and confocal analysis was used to assess the autophagic flux in OC cells. PLA2G3 knockout OVCAR5 xenograft in combination with carboplatin on tumor growth and metastasis was assessed in vivo. Efficacy of PFK158 alone and with platinum drugs was determined in patient-derived primary ascites cultures expressing PLA2G3 by MTT assay and immunoblot analysis. Results Downregulation of PLA2G3 in OVCAR8 and 5 cells inhibited LD biogenesis, decreased growth and sensitized cells to platinum drug mediated cytotoxicity in vitro and in in vivo OVCAR5 xenograft. PLA2G3 knockdown in HeyA8MDR-resistant cells showed sensitivity to carboplatin treatment. We found that both PFK158 inhibitor-mediated and genetic downregulation of PLA2G3 resulted in increased number of percent ciliated cells and inhibited cancer progression. Mechanistically, we found that PFK158-induced autophagy targeted PLA2G3 to restore primary cilia in OC cells. Of clinical relevance, PFK158 also induces percent ciliated cells in human-derived primary ascites cells and reduces cell viability with sensitization to chemotherapy. Conclusions Taken together, our study for the first time emphasizes the role of PLA2G3 in regulating the OC metastasis. This study further suggests the therapeutic potential of targeting phospholipases and/or restoration of PC for future OC treatment and the critical role of PLA2G3 in regulating ciliary function by coordinating interface between lipogenesis and metastasis.

Abstract 314: BRaf Plays a Major Role in Gene Expression in Cardiomyocytes in Mouse Hearts in vivo

2017 ◽  
Vol 121 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle A Hardyman ◽  
Stephen J Fuller ◽  
Daniel N Meijles ◽  
Kerry A Rostron ◽  
Sam J Leonard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Cardiac Hypertrophy ◽  
Cardiac Function ◽  
Left Ventricular ◽  
Braf Mutations ◽  
Gene Markers ◽  
Lv Mass ◽  
Cardiac Volumes

Introduction: Raf kinases lie upstream of ERK1/2 with BRaf being the most highly expressed and having the highest basal activity. V600E BRaf mutations constitutively activate ERK1/2 and are common in cancer. The role of BRaf in the adult heart is yet to be established. ERK1/2 regulate cardiomyocyte gene expression, promoting cardiac hypertrophy and cardioprotection, but effects of ERK1/2 may depend on signal strength. Hypothesis: Our hypotheses are that BRaf is critical in regulating ERK1/2 signaling in cardiomyocytes and, whilst moderate ERK1/2 activity is beneficial, excessive ERK1/2 activity is detrimental to the heart. Methods: We generated heterozygote mice for tamoxifen- (Tam-) inducible cardiomyocyte-specific knockin of V600E in the endogenous BRaf gene. Mice (12 wks) received 2 injections of Tam or vehicle on consecutive days (n=4-10 per group). Kinase activities and mRNA expression were assessed by immunoblotting and qPCR. Echocardiography was performed (Vevo2100). M-mode images (short axis view) were analyzed; data for each mouse were normalized to the mean of 2 baseline controls. Results: V600E knockin did not affect overall BRaf or cRaf levels in mouse hearts, but significantly increased ERK1/2 activities within 48 h (1.51±0.05 fold). Concurrently, mRNAs for hypertrophic gene markers including BNP and immediate early genes (IEGs) increased signficantly. At 72 h, expression of BNP, Fosl1, Myc, Ereg and CTGF increased further, other IEGs (Jun, Fos, Egr1, Atf3) declined, and ANF was upregulated. In contrast, expression of α and β myosin heavy chain mRNAs was substantially downregulated (0.46/0.41±0.05 relative to controls). Within 72 h, left ventricular (LV) mass and diastolic LV wall thickness had increased (1.23±0.05 relative to controls), but cardiac function was severely compromised with significant decreases in ejection fraction and cardiac output (0.53/0.68±0.09 relative to controls) associated with increased LV internal diameters and cardiac volumes. Conclusions: Endogenous cardiomyocyte BRaf is sufficient to activate ERK1/2 in mouse hearts and induce cardiac hypertrophy associated with dynamic temporal changes in gene expression. However, excessive activation of ERK1/2 in isolation is detrimental to cardiac function.

Abstract 14391: Transient Cell Cycle Induction in Cardiomyocytes is a Promising Approach to Treat Ischemia Induced Heart Failure

Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Riham Abouleisa ◽  
Qinghui Ou ◽  
Xian-liang Tang ◽  
Mitesh Solanki ◽  
Yiru Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Cardiac Function ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Ischemia Reperfusion Injury ◽  
Ischemia Reperfusion ◽  
Cardiomyocyte Proliferation ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Control Virus

Rationale: The regenerative capacity of the heart to repair itself after myocardial infarction (MI)is limited. Our previous study showed that ectopic introduction of Cdk1/CyclinB1 andCdk4/CyclinD1 complexes (4F) promotes cardiomyocyte proliferation in vitro and in vivo andimproves cardiac function after MI. However, its clinical application is limited due to the concernsfor tumorigenic potential in other organs. Objectives: To first, identify on a single cell transcriptomic basis the necessary reprogrammingsteps that cardiomyocytes need to undertake to progress through the proliferation processfollowing 4F overexpression, and then, to determine the pre-clinical efficacy of transient andcardiomyocyte specific expression of 4F in improving cardiac function after MI in small and largeanimals. Methods and Results: Temporal bulk and single cell RNAseq of mature hiPS-CMs treated with4F or LacZ control for 24, 48, or 72 h revealed full cell cycle reprogramming in 15% of thecardiomyocyte population which was associated with sarcomere disassembly and metabolicreprogramming. Transient overexpression of 4F specifically in cardiomyocytes was achievedusing non-integrating lentivirus (NIL) driven by TNNT2 (TNNT2-4F-NIL). One week after inductionof ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats or pigs, TNNT2-4F-NIL or control virus was injectedintramyocardially. Compared with controls, rats or pigs treated with TNNT2-4F-NIL showed a 20-30% significant improvement in ejection fraction and scar size four weeks after treatment, asassessed by echocardiography and histological analysis. Quantification of cardiomyocyteproliferation in pigs using a novel cytokinesis reporter showed that ~10% of the cardiomyocyteswithin the injection site were labelled as daughter cells following injection with TNNT2-4F-NILcompared with ~0.5% background labelling in control groups. Conclusions: We provide the first understanding of the process of forced cardiomyocyteproliferation and advanced the clinical applicability of this approach through minimization ofoncogenic potential of the cell cycle factors using a novel transient and cardiomyocyte-specificviral construct.

Abstract 791: A Critical Role for Bmper (BMP-binding Endothelial cell precursor-derived Regulator) in Cardiac Muscle Mass Regulation during Development and Pressure Overload Induced Hypertrophy

Circulation ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 116 (suppl_16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monte Willis ◽  
Rongqin Ren ◽  
Cam Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Function ◽  
Cardiac Muscle ◽  
Muscle Mass ◽  
Cardiac Development ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Pressure Overload ◽  
Posterior Wall ◽  
Fractional Shortening

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) of the TGF-beta superfamily, have been implicated in multiple processes during cardiac development. Our laboratory recently described an unprecedented role for Bmper in antagonizing BMP-2, BMP-4, and BMP-6. To determine the role of Bmper on cardiac development in vivo, we created Bmper null (Bmper −/−) mice by replacing exons 1 and 2 with GFP. Since Bmper −/− mice are perinatally lethal, we determined pre-natal cardiac function of Bmper −/− mice in utero just before birth. By echocardiography, E18.5 Bmper −/− embryos had decreased cardiac function (24.2 +/− 8.1% fractional shortening) compared to Bmper +/− and Bmper +/+ siblings (52.2 +/− 1.6% fractional shortening) (N=4/group). To further characterize the role of Bmper on cardiac function in adult mice, we performed echocardiography on 8-week old male and female Bmper +/− and littermate control Bmper +/+. Bmper +/− mice had an approximately 15% decrease in anterior and posterior wall thickness compared to sibling Bmper +/+ mice at baseline (n=10/group). Cross-sectional areas of Bmper +/− cardiomyocytes were approximately 20% less than wild type controls, indicating cardiomyocyte hypoplasia in adult Bmper +/− mice at baseline. Histologically, no significant differences were identified in representative H&E and trichrome stained adult Bmper +/− and Bmper +/+ cardiac sections at baseline. To determine the effects of Bmper expression on the development of cardiac hypertrophy, both Bmper +/− and Bmper +/+ sibling controls underwent transaortic constriction (TAC), followed by weekly echocardiography. While a deficit was identified in Bmper +/− mice at baseline, both anterior and posterior wall thicknesses increased after TAC, such that identical wall thicknesses were identified in Bmper +/− and Bmper +/+ mice 1–4 weeks after TAC. Notably, cardiac function (fractional shortening %) and histological evaluation revealed no differences between Bmper +/− and Bmper +/+ any time after TAC. These studies identify for the first time that Bmper expression plays a critical role in regulating cardiac muscle mass during development, and that Bmper regulates the development of hypertrophy in response to pressure overload in vivo.

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