Project description:: The adult heart develops hypertrophy to reduce ventricular wall stress and maintain cardiac function in response to an increased workload. Although pathological hypertrophy generally progresses to heart failure, physiological hypertrophy may be cardioprotective. Cardiac-specific overexpression of the lipid-droplet protein perilipin 5 (Plin5) promotes cardiac hypertrophy, but it is unclear if this response is beneficial. We analyzed human RNA-sequencing data from the left ventricle and showed that cardiac PLIN5 expression correlates with upregulation of cardiac contraction-related processes. To investigate how elevated cardiac Plin5 levels affect cardiac contractility, we generated mice with cardiac-specific overexpression of Plin5 (MHC-Plin5 mice). These mice displayed increased left ventricular mass and cardiomyocyte size but preserved heart function. Quantitative proteomics identified sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase 2 (SERCA2) as a Plin5-interacting protein. Phosphorylation of phospholamban, the master regulator of SERCA2, was increased in MHC-Plin5 versus wild-type cardiomyocytes. Live imaging showed increases in intracellular Ca2+ release during contraction, Ca2+ removal during relaxation, and SERCA2 function in MHC-Plin5 versus wild-type cardiomyocytes. These results identify a role for Plin5 in improving cardiac contractility through enhanced Ca2+ signaling.
Project description:Cardiovascular disease (CVD) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by vascular calcification and cardiac remodeling. CKD induced cardiac hypertrophy precedes cardiac fibrosis and is associated with left ventricular dysfunction. Elevated phosphate concentration due to renal failure is known to be involved in cardiac remodeling.
Project description:We report, for the first time, engineering of heteropolar cardiac tissues containing distinct atrial and ventricular ends, and demonstrate their spatially confined responses to serotonin and ranolazine. Uniquely, electrical conditioning for up to 8 months enabled modeling of polygenic left ventricular hypertrophy starting from patient cells.
Project description:Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC) is a disease characterized by ventricular hypertrophy, fibrosis, and aberrant systolic and/or diastolic function. Our laboratories have previously developed 2 mouse models that affect cardiac performance. One transgenic mouse model encodes an FHC-associated mutation in α-tropomyosin (Tm180) that displays severe cardiac hypertrophy with fibrosis and impaired physiological performance. The other model was a gene knockout of phospholamban (PLB), a regulator of calcium uptake in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of cardiomyocytes; the hearts of these mice exhibit hypercontractility with no pathological abnormalities. Previous work in our laboratories show that the hearts of mice that were genetically crossed between the Tm180 and PLB KO mice rescues the hypertrophic phenotype and improves their cardiac morphology and function. We used microarrays to detail the global program of gene expression underlying cardiac remodeling and rescue of the hypertrophic cardiomyopathic phenotype and identified distinct classes of regulated genes during this process. To understand the changes in gene expression that occur over time in these animal models (Tm180, PLB KO, Tm180/PLB KO and nontransgenic control mice), we conducted microarray analyses of left ventricular tissue at 4 and 12 months of age.
Project description:BACKGROUND - MicroRNAs (miRs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression. Transgenic models have proved that a single miR can induce pathological cardiac hypertrophy and failure. The roles of miRs in the genesis of physiologic left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), however, are not well elucidated. OBJECTIVE - To evaluate miRs expression in an experimental model of exercise-induced LVH. METHODS - Male Balb/c mice were divided into sedentary (SED) and exercise (EXE) groups. Voluntary exercise was performed in odometer-monitored metal wheels during 35 days. Analyses were performed after 7 and 35 days of training, and consisted of transthoracic echocardiography, maximal exercise test, miRs microarray (miRBase v.16) and real-time qRT-PCR analysis. RESULTS - Left ventricular weight/body weight ratio increased by 7% in the EXE group at day 7 (p<0.01) and by 11% at 35 days of training (p<0.001) After 7 days of training, microarray identified 35 deregulated miRs: 20 had an increase in their expression and 15 were down-regulated (p=0.01). At day 35 of training, 25 miRs were deregulated: 15 were up-regulated and 10 had decreased their expression compared to the SED group (p<0.01). qRT-PCR confirmed an increase in miR-150 levels at both time points and a decrease in miR-26b, miR-27a and miR-143 after 7 days of voluntary exercise. CONCLUSIONS M-bM-^@M-^S We unraveled new miRs that can modulate physiological cardiac hypertrophy, particularly miR-26b, -150, 27a and -143. Our data also indicate that previously established regulatory gene pathways involved in pathological LVH are not deregulated in physiologic LVH. Experimental model of left ventricular hypertrophy induced by voluntary exercise Male Balb/c mice, 8-10 weeks old, 4 groups analyzed, each group consisted of a pool from 4 animals
Project description:Aortic banding is an excellent model system to evaluate the process of development of left ventricular hypertrophy in response to hemodynamic stress. The Affymetrix GeneChip MgU74Av1 was used to analyze expression profiles of mice at different time points after surgical intervention for pressure-overload induced hypertrophy. More information about this model may be obtained at http://cardiogenomics.med.harvard.edu/groups/proj1/pages/band_home.html Keywords = Pressure overload, cardiac hypertrophy Keywords: time-course
Project description:Using the highly sensitive miRNA array, we screened 220 microRNAs abundant in physiological left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and we explored the functions of these miRNAs in the cardiac tissue by Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes annotation. miRNAs showed a high score in the pathway enriched in autophagy. Moreover, the expression levels of miR-26b-5p, miR-204-5p, and miR-497-3p showed an obvious increase in rat hearts. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of miR-26b-5p, miR-204-5p, and miR-497-3p markedly attenuated IGF-1-induced hypertrophy in H9C2 cells by suppressing autophagy. Furthermore, miR-26b-5p, miR-204-5p, and miR-497-3p attenuated autophagy in H9C2 cells through targeting ULK1, LC3B and Beclin 1, respectively. Taken together, our results demonstrate that swimming exercise induced physiological LVH, at least in part, by modulating the microRNA–autophagy axis, and that miR-26b-5p, miR-204-5p, and miR-497-3p may help distinguish physiological and pathological LVH.
Project description:To evaluate the genome-wide changes in gene translational efficiency during the development of heart failure, we performed transverse aortic constriction(TAC) in male C57BL/6 mice. According to our experience, hypertrophy of the left ventricle was observed 2 weeks after TAC. Cardiac decompensation was observed at 5 weeks. We collected left ventricular tissues at 0, 2, 5 weeks after TAC and then performed ribosome footprinting and sequencing.
Project description:BACKGROUND - MicroRNAs (miRs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression. Transgenic models have proved that a single miR can induce pathological cardiac hypertrophy and failure. The roles of miRs in the genesis of physiologic left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), however, are not well elucidated. OBJECTIVE - To evaluate miRs expression in an experimental model of exercise-induced LVH. METHODS - Male Balb/c mice were divided into sedentary (SED) and exercise (EXE) groups. Voluntary exercise was performed in odometer-monitored metal wheels during 35 days. Analyses were performed after 7 and 35 days of training, and consisted of transthoracic echocardiography, maximal exercise test, miRs microarray (miRBase v.16) and real-time qRT-PCR analysis. RESULTS - Left ventricular weight/body weight ratio increased by 7% in the EXE group at day 7 (p<0.01) and by 11% at 35 days of training (p<0.001) After 7 days of training, microarray identified 35 deregulated miRs: 20 had an increase in their expression and 15 were down-regulated (p=0.01). At day 35 of training, 25 miRs were deregulated: 15 were up-regulated and 10 had decreased their expression compared to the SED group (p<0.01). qRT-PCR confirmed an increase in miR-150 levels at both time points and a decrease in miR-26b, miR-27a and miR-143 after 7 days of voluntary exercise. CONCLUSIONS – We unraveled new miRs that can modulate physiological cardiac hypertrophy, particularly miR-26b, -150, 27a and -143. Our data also indicate that previously established regulatory gene pathways involved in pathological LVH are not deregulated in physiologic LVH.