Tissue-Specific Splicing and Dietary Interaction of a Mutant As160 Allele Determine Muscle Metabolic Fitness in Rodents

<a>Ethnic groups are physiologically and genetically adapted to their diets. Inuit bear a frequent AS160^R684X mutation that causes type 2 diabetes. Whether this</a> mutation evolutionarily confers adaptation in Inuit and how it causes metabolic disorders upon dietary changes are unknown due to limitations in human studies. Here, we develop a genetically-modified rat model bearing an orthologous AS160^R693X mutation, which mimics human patients exhibiting postprandial hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia. Importantly, a sugar-rich diet aggravates metabolic abnormalities in AS160^R693X rats. The AS160^R693X mutation diminishes a dominant long-variant AS160 without affecting a minor short-variant AS160 in skeletal muscle, which suppresses muscle glucose utilisation but induces fatty acid oxidation. This fuel switch suggests a possible adaptation in Inuit who traditionally had lipid-rich hypoglycemic diets. Finally, induction of the short-variant AS160 restores glucose utilisation in rat myocytes and a mouse model. Our findings have implications for development of precision treatments for patients bearing the AS160^R684X mutation.

Tissue-Specific Splicing and Dietary Interaction of a Mutant As160 Allele Determine Muscle Metabolic Fitness in Rodents

<a>Ethnic groups are physiologically and genetically adapted to their diets. Inuit bear a frequent AS160^R684X mutation that causes type 2 diabetes. Whether this</a> mutation evolutionarily confers adaptation in Inuit and how it causes metabolic disorders upon dietary changes are unknown due to limitations in human studies. Here, we develop a genetically-modified rat model bearing an orthologous AS160^R693X mutation, which mimics human patients exhibiting postprandial hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia. Importantly, a sugar-rich diet aggravates metabolic abnormalities in AS160^R693X rats. The AS160^R693X mutation diminishes a dominant long-variant AS160 without affecting a minor short-variant AS160 in skeletal muscle, which suppresses muscle glucose utilisation but induces fatty acid oxidation. This fuel switch suggests a possible adaptation in Inuit who traditionally had lipid-rich hypoglycemic diets. Finally, induction of the short-variant AS160 restores glucose utilisation in rat myocytes and a mouse model. Our findings have implications for development of precision treatments for patients bearing the AS160^R684X mutation.

Hypokalemia Promotes Arrhythmia by Distinct Mechanisms in Atrial and Ventricular Myocytes

Rationale: Hypokalemia occurs in up to 20% of hospitalized patients and is associated with increased incidence of ventricular and atrial fibrillation. It is unclear whether these differing types of arrhythmia result from direct and perhaps distinct effects of hypokalemia on cardiomyocytes. Objective: To investigate proarrhythmic mechanisms of hypokalemia in ventricular and atrial myocytes. Methods and Results: Experiments were performed in isolated rat myocytes exposed to simulated hypokalemia conditions (reduction of extracellular [K + ] from 5.0 to 2.7 mmol/L) and supported by mathematical modeling studies. Ventricular cells subjected to hypokalemia exhibited Ca 2+ overload and increased generation of both spontaneous Ca 2+ waves and delayed afterdepolarizations. However, similar Ca 2+ -dependent spontaneous activity during hypokalemia was only observed in a minority of atrial cells that were observed to contain t-tubules. This effect was attributed to close functional pairing of the Na + -K + ATPase and Na + -Ca 2+ exchanger proteins within these structures, as reduction in Na + pump activity locally inhibited Ca 2+ extrusion. Ventricular myocytes and tubulated atrial myocytes additionally exhibited early afterdepolarizations during hypokalemia, associated with Ca 2+ overload. However, early afterdepolarizations also occurred in untubulated atrial cells, despite Ca 2+ quiescence. These phase-3 early afterdepolarizations were rather linked to reactivation of nonequilibrium Na + current, as they were rapidly blocked by tetrodotoxin. Na + current-driven early afterdepolarizations in untubulated atrial cells were enabled by membrane hyperpolarization during hypokalemia and short action potential configurations. Brief action potentials were in turn maintained by ultra-rapid K + current (I Kur ); a current which was found to be absent in tubulated atrial myocytes and ventricular myocytes. Conclusions: Distinct mechanisms underlie hypokalemia-induced arrhythmia in the ventricle and atrium but also vary between atrial myocytes depending on subcellular structure and electrophysiology.

Silica nanoparticles induce cardiotoxicity interfering with energetic status and Ca2+ handling in adult rat cardiomyocytes

Recent evidence has shown that nanoparticles that have been used to improve or create new functional properties for common products may pose potential risks to human health. Silicon dioxide (SiO2) has emerged as a promising therapy vector for the heart. However, its potential toxicity and mechanisms of damage remain poorly understood. This study provides the first exploration of SiO2-induced toxicity in cultured cardiomyocytes exposed to 7- or 670-nm SiO2 particles. We evaluated the mechanism of cell death in isolated adult cardiomyocytes exposed to 24-h incubation. The SiO2 cell membrane association and internalization were analyzed. SiO2 showed a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration for the 7 nm (99.5 ± 12.4 µg/ml) and 670 nm (>1,500 µg/ml) particles, which indicates size-dependent toxicity. We evaluated cardiomyocyte shortening and intracellular Ca2+ handling, which showed impaired contractility and intracellular Ca2+ transient amplitude during β-adrenergic stimulation in SiO2 treatment. The time to 50% Ca2+ decay increased 39%, and the Ca2+ spark frequency and amplitude decreased by 35 and 21%, respectively, which suggest a reduction in sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) activity. Moreover, SiO2 treatment depolarized the mitochondrial membrane potential and decreased ATP production by 55%. Notable glutathione depletion and H2O2 generation were also observed. These data indicate that SiO2 increases oxidative stress, which leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and low energy status; these underlie reduced SERCA activity, shortened Ca2+ release, and reduced cell shortening. This mechanism of SiO2 cardiotoxicity potentially plays an important role in the pathophysiology mechanism of heart failure, arrhythmias, and sudden death. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Silica particles are used as novel nanotechnology-based vehicles for diagnostics and therapeutics for the heart. However, their potential hazardous effects remain unknown. Here, the cardiotoxicity of silica nanoparticles in rat myocytes has been described for the first time, showing an impairment of mitochondrial function that interfered directly with Ca2+ handling.

Pro-B-type natriuretic peptide is cleaved intracellularly: impact of distance between O-glycosylation and cleavage sites

We investigated the molecular mechanism underlying the processing of pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (proBNP). Rat neonatal atrial and ventricular myocytes were cultured separately. We examined the molecular forms of secreted and intracellular BNP in atrial and ventricular myocytes; levels of corin and furin mRNA in atrial and ventricular myocytes; the effect their knockdown on proBNP processing; plasma molecular forms of BNP from rats and humans with and without heart failure; and the impact of the distance between the glycosylation and cleavage sites in wild-type and mutant human proBNP, expressed in rat myocytes transfected with lentiviral vectors. BNP was the major molecular form secreted by atrial and ventricular myocytes. Transfection of furin siRNA reduced proBNP processing in both atrial and ventricular myocytes; however, transfection of corin siRNA did not reduce it. BNP was the major molecular form in rat plasma, whereas proBNP was the major form in human plasma. The relative fraction of human BNP in rat myocytes expressing human proBNP was about 60%, but increasing the distance between the glycosylation and cleavage sites through mutation, increased the processed fraction correspondingly. These results suggest that proBNP is processed into BNP intracellularly by furin. The level of proBNP processing is lower in humans than rats, most likely due to the smaller distance between the O-glycosylation and cleavage sites in humans.

Abstract 13874: Elevated [Na + ] i in Cardiac Myocytes from Diabetic Rats Due to Enhanced Na + - Glucose Cotransport

Intracellular Na + concentration ([Na + ] i ) is a key regulator of cardiac Ca 2+ cycling, contractility and metabolism. [Na + ] i is elevated in myocytes from failing hearts, leading to arrhythmias and oxidative stress. We hypothesized that myocyte [Na + ] i is also increased in type-2 diabetes (T2D) due to enhanced activity of the Na + -glucose cotransporter (SGLT). To test this hypothesis, we used myocardial tissue from humans with T2D and an animal model of late-onset T2D (HIP rats). We found increased SGLT expression in failing hearts from patients with T2D compared to non-diabetic individuals (by 55±16%) and in HIP rat hearts ( vs . age-matched wild-type, WT, littermates; by 59±17%). [Na + ] i , measured with the fluorescent indicator SBFI, is increased in myocytes from diabetic HIP rats, both at rest (14.7±0.9 mM compared to 11.4±0.7 mM in WT) and during electrical stimulation at 2 Hz (17.3±0.8 mM vs . 15.0±0.7 mM in WT). However, the Na + /K + -pump function (measured as the rate of pump-mediated [Na + ] i decline in intact myocytes) is not significantly altered in diabetic HIP rats. This result suggests that higher [Na + ] i is due to an increased Na + entry in HIP rat myocytes. Indeed, Na + influx, assessed as the rate of [Na + ] i rise upon Na + /K + -pump inhibition with 10 mM ouabain, was significantly larger in myocytes from diabetic HIP vs . WT rats (1.74±0.13 mM/min vs . 1.27±0.07 mM/min). SGLT inhibition with 250 μM phlorizin significantly reduced Na + influx in myocytes from diabetic HIP rats (to 1.08±0.20 mM/min), while it had no effect in the WT (1.14±0.21 mM/min). Phlorizin also significantly decreased glucose uptake in HIP rat myocytes (by 50±10 %) but not in WT, indicating an increased reliance on SGLT for glucose uptake in T2D hearts. In agreement with this result, the insulin-sensitive glucose uptake was greatly reduced in HIP rat myocytes vs . WT. These data suggest that SGLT is upregulated in diabetic hearts to compensate for reduced insulin-mediated glucose uptake. In summary, we found that [Na + ] i is elevated in myocytes from diabetic HIP rats due to an increased Na + entry via the Na + -glucose cotransporter. Higher [Na + ] i may contribute to arrhythmogenesis and oxidative stress in diabetic hearts.

The role of dye affinity in optical measurements of Cai2+ transients in cardiac muscle

Previous experiments in cultures of neonatal rat myocytes demonstrated that the shape of Cai2+ transients measured using high-affinity Ca2+-sensitive dyes may be misrepresented. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of dye affinity in Cai2+ measurements in intact adult cardiac tissue by comparing optical recordings obtained with high- and low-affinity dyes. Experiments were carried out in porcine left ventricular (LV) wedge preparations stained locally by intramural injection via microcapillaries (diameter = 150 μm) with a low-affinity Ca2+-sensitive dye Fluo-4FF or Fluo-2LA (nominal Kd, ∼7–10 μmol/l), high-affinity dye Rhod-2 ( Kd = 0.57 μmol/l), and Fluo-4 or Fluo-2MA ( Kd, ∼0.4 μmol/l); in addition, tissue was stained with transmembrane potential ( Vm)-sensitive dye RH-237. Optical recordings of Vm and Cai2+ were made using optical fibers (diameter = 325 μm) glued with the microcapillaries. The durations of Cai2+ transients measured at 50% level of recovery (CaD50) using high-affinity Fluo-4/Fluo-2MA dyes were up to ∼81% longer than those measured with low-affinity Fluo-4FF/Fluo-2LA at long pacing cycle lengths (CL). In Fluo-4/Fluo-2MA measurements at long CLs, Cai2+ transients often (∼50% of cases) exhibited slow upstroke rise and extended plateau. In Rhod-2 measurements, CaD50 was moderately longer (up to ∼35%) than in Fluo-4FF recordings, but Cai2+ transient shapes were similar. In all series of measurements, mean action potential duration values were not significantly different ( P > 0.05). The delays between Vm and Cai2+ upstrokes were comparable for low- and high-affinity dyes ( P > 0.05). In conclusion, measurements of Cai2+ transient in ventricular myocardium are strongly affected by the affinity of Ca2+ dyes. The high-affinity dyes may overestimate the duration and alter the shape of Cai2+ transients.