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Failing heart-specific cardiac fibroblasts induce heart failure via c-Myc Expansion [snRNA-seq]

ABSTRACT: Heart failure (HF) is a major global problem with increasing numbers of patients and deaths in many countries. Existing studies on HF have focused primarily on cardiomyocytes, with few studies targeting non-cardiomyocytes. This study focused on cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) as a cause of HF. Single-cell RNA sequencing of mouse hearts revealed six distinct subclusters of CFs at various stages after pressure overload, with one subcluster being specific to the HF stage. The transcription factor c-Myc is specifically expressed in HF-specific CFs. CFs-specific deletion of c-Myc ameliorates pressure overload-induced cardiac dysfunction without affecting fibrosis. The chemokine Cxcl1 is highly expressed in HF-specific CFs and downregulated in CFs-specific c-Myc knockout mice. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that c-Myc binds to the promoter region of Cxcl1 in CFs. Cxcr2, the receptor for Cxcl1, is expressed in cardiomyocytes, and blockade of the Cxcl1-Cxcr2 signalling pathway prevents pressure overload-induced cardiac dysfunction. The addition of CXCL1 reduces the contractility of cardiomyocytes of neonatal rats and human iPS-derived cardiomyocyte organoids. Human CFs from failing hearts expressed c-MYC and CXCL1, while CFs from control hearts did not. These findings suggest that HF-specific CFs play an important role in inducing HF by upregulating c-Myc and Cxcl1 and that CFs could be a novel therapeutic target for HF.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE302337 | GEO | 2025/07/18

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Chronic pressure overload initiates a series of molecular alterations in the human heart that predate macroscopic organ-level remodeling and downstream heart failure (HF). We hypothesized that integrating easily accessible circulating mediators (proteome) with their expression in the heart (transcriptome) may prioritize targets for study in human pressure overload. Among individuals with severe aortic stenosis (AS)—a pressure overload state—we measured the circulating proteome (Olink) and examined associations with myocardial structure/function (N=519), cardiac MRI-based tissue fibrosis (N=145), and outcomes in AS (N=802). We constructed proteomic signatures of cardiac remodeling and tested their association with HF in the UK Biobank (N=36,668). For proteo-transcriptional integration, we examined a "remodeling proteome” prioritized by proteome-phenotype relations at the transcriptional level via single nuclear RNA-sequencing (snRNA-seq) in 20 human hearts (11 with AS at the time of surgical aortic valve replacement [AVR] and 9 donor hearts not used for transplantation). We identified three principal components of myocardial remodeling (across 12 echocardiographic measures in 503 patients with AS) loaded on cardiac morphology, systolic, and diastolic function traits. Proteins associated with these components (the “remodeling proteome”) specified both known and novel mediators of fibrosis, hypertrophy, and oxidative stress, several of which were associated with interstitial fibrosis by cardiac MRI. Proteomic signatures of remodeling were strongly linked to mortality (AS cohort and UK Biobank) and incident HF (UK Biobank). At a myocardial level, we observed broad differential expression of genes encoding the remodeling proteome between AS and donor hearts, featuring convergent fibrosis pathways (WNT9A, ITGA6, AGRN, CRIM1, SEMA4C, LAYN, PTX3, HMOX1) and metabolic-inflammatory signaling (ENPP2/ATX, TNF), among others. Differential expression of proteo-transcriptionally prioritized genes was prominent in fibroblasts, cardiomyocytes, and endothelial cells. Proteo-transcriptional prioritization in human pressure overload hearts identifies both known and novel targets that are mechanistically relevant to HF pathogenesis. Future integrative studies to index circulating biomarkers over time to myocardial tissue level is warranted to inform pathways of HF progression.

Project description:Rationale: MicroRNAs play key roles in hypertrophic stress responses. miR-378(-3p) is a highly abundant, cardiomyocyte-enriched microRNA whose downregulation in pressure-overload has been suggested as detrimental to the heart. Previous studies have utilized systemic anti-miR or microRNA-encoding virus administration, and thus questions regarding the cardiomyocyte-autonomous roles of miR-378 remain. Objective: To examine whether persistent overexpression of miR-378 in cardiomyocytes alters the phenotype of the unstressed heart, whether its overexpression is beneficial or deleterious in the setting of pressure-overload, and to comprehensively identify its cardiomyocyte-specific effects on mRNA regulation. Methods and Results: Cardiac function was compared in young (10-12 week-old) mice overexpressing miR-378 in the heart under the control of the Myh6 promoter (alphaMHC-miR-378 mice), in older (40 week-old) mice and their age-matched wild-type controls. Older alphaMHC-miR-378 mice exhibited decreased fractional shortening and modest chamber dilation with an increase in cardiomyocyte length. When subjected to pressure-overload, cardiomyocyte length was increased in young alphaMHC-miR-378 mice, but fractional shortening declined precipitously over two weeks. Transcriptome profiling of wild-type and alphaMHC-miR-378 hearts in unstressed and pressure-overload conditions revealed dysregulation of several upstream metabolic and mitochondrial genes in alphaMHC-miR-378 hearts, compromising the reprogramming that occurs during early adaptation to pressure overload. Ago2 immunoprecipitation with mRNA sequencing revealed novel miR-378 cardiac mRNA targets including Akt1 and Epac2 and demonstrated the contextual nature of previously described miR-378 targeting events. Conclusions: Long-term upregulation of miR-378 levels in the heart is not innocuous and exacerbates contractile dysfunction in pressure-overload hypertrophy through numerous signaling mechanisms.

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Failing heart-specific cardiac fibroblasts induce heart failure via c-Myc Expansion [snRNA-seq]

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