Project description:To identify the potential microRNAs (miRNAs) involved in the regulation of cardiomyocyte (CM) proliferation during homeostasis and injury, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in mouse cardiac ventricles was performed on postnatal day 1, 7, and 28 (P1, P7, and P28). Significant upregulation of MiR-128 was found in P7 hearts as compared to P1. To further specify the effect of miR-128 in the heart, RNA-Seq was performed in control mice (Ctrl) and miR-128 overexpression mice (miR-128OE) on P7. These data provide novel insights into the mechanisms by which adult CMs exit the cell cycle arrest and is fundamental for therapeutic manipulation to stimulate endogenous CM proliferate in cardiac regeneration.
Project description:To identify the potential microRNAs (miRNAs) involved in the regulation of cardiomyocyte (CM) proliferation during homeostasis and injury, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in mouse cardiac ventricles was performed on postnatal day 1, 7, and 28 (P1, P7, and P28). Significant upregulation of MiR-128 was found in P7 hearts as compared to P1. To further specify the effect of miR-128 in the heart, RNA-Seq was performed in control mice (Ctrl) and miR-128 overexpression mice (miR-128OE) on P7. These data provide novel insights into the mechanisms by which adult CMs exit the cell cycle arrest and is fundamental for therapeutic manipulation to stimulate endogenous CM proliferate in cardiac regeneration.
Project description:Promoting the proliferation of endogenous cardiomyocytes represents a promising strategy for treating cardiac injuries. Identifying key factors that regulate cardiomyocyte proliferation can advance the development of novel therapies for heart regeneration. Here we identify that FOXK1 and FOXK2 act as master regulators of cardiomyocyte proliferation and metabolism. The expression of FOXK1 and FOXK2 decreased with postnatal heart development. Cardiomyocyte-specific knockout of Foxk1 or Foxk2 inhibited neonatal heart regeneration after myocardial infarction (MI) injury. Conversely, AAV9-mediated cardiomyocyte-specific overexpression of FOXK1 or FOXK2 prolonged the postnatal proliferative window of cardiomyocytes and enhanced cardiac repair in adult mice by promoting endogenous cardiomyocyte proliferation after MI. Mechanistically, FOXK1 and FOXK2 induce Ccnb1 and Cdk1 transcription and cardiomyocyte cell cycle progression, respectively. Ccnb1 knockdown hindered FOXK1 overexpression-induced cardiomyocyte proliferation, and the same effect was observed when Cdk1 was knocked down in FOXK2 overexpressing cardiomyocytes. Additionally, we further revealed that FOXK1 and FOXK2 induced a metabolic shift toward glycolysis by promoting HIF1α expression in cardiomyocytes, which favors cardiomyocyte proliferation. Our findings identify FOXK1 and FOXK2 as critical triggers of cardiomyocyte proliferation and define these two transcription factors as novel therapeutic targets for myocardial infarction.
Project description:Neonatal heart possesses the unique ability to regenerate post-injury. Underlying related mechanisms and reactivation of this process are crucial for regeneration medicine. Using quantitative proteomics with tandem mass tag labeling, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) and single-nucleus RNA-seq dataset analyses, high mobility group box 2 (HMGB2) was identified as a key regulator of cardiomyocyte proliferation, whose expression declines during postnatal heart development and increases in the high regenerative potential cardiomyocyte populations in hearts post-injury. Cardiomyocyte-specific HMGB2 knockdown curtails cardiomyocyte proliferation and impairs heart regeneration following apical resection (AR) in neonatal mice, while cardiomyocyte-specific HMGB2 overexpression enhances cardiomyocyte proliferation and facilitates cardiac regeneration and repair in adult mice post-myocardial infarction (MI). Mechanistically, RNA-seq analysis revealed that HMGB2 promotes cardiomyocyte proliferation via activating hypoxia inducible factor 1ɑ (HIF-1α)-mediated glycolysis. This study further found HMGB2 can directly interact with metastasis-associated protein 2 (MTA2) and inhibit its ubiquitination degradation to stabilize HIF-1α protein through immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry (IP-MS) analysis. Finally, activating HIF-1α or MTA2 could also promote cardiomyocyte proliferation and cardiac repair in adult mice following MI. Taken together, these findings highlight HMGB2 plays a crucial role in promoting heart regeneration through regulating glycolysis. Activating the HMGB2-MTA2-HIF-1α axis might serve as potential therapeutic options for regenerative therapies post-myocardial injury.
Project description:The neonatal mammalian heart is capable of substantial regeneration following injury through cardiomyocyte proliferation. However, this regenerative capacity is lost by postnatal (P) day 7. How to stimulate the adult cardiomyocyte to re-enter the cell cycle is still unknown. Accumulating evidence suggests that cardiomyocyte proliferation depends on its metabolic state. Due to the tight connection between the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) and cell proliferation, we analyzed the TCA metabolites between P0.5 and P7 mouse hearts and found that α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) ranked first among the decreased metabolites. The intraperitoneal injection of exogenous α-KG extended the window of cardiomyocyte proliferation during heart development and promoted heart regeneration after myocardial infarction (MI) by inducing adult cardiomyocyte proliferation. This was confirmed in Ogdh-siRNA-treated mice with increased α-KG levels. Mechanistically, α-KG activates Jmjd3, a histone lysine demethylase, that decreases H3K27me3 expression and deposition of H3K4me3 at the promoters of cell cycle and structural maturation genes in cardiomyocytes. Our present study shows that α-KG promotes cardiomyocyte proliferation by Jmjd3-dependent demethylation and inactivation of H3K27me3 andH3K4me3, which is a potential therapeutic approach for treating MI and heart failure.
Project description:Since the proliferative capacity of cardiomyocytes is extremely limited in the adult mammalian hearts, the irreversible loss of cardiomyocytes following cardiac injury markedly reduces cardiac function, leading to cardiac remodeling and heart failure. However, the early neonatal mice have a strong ability in cardiomyocyte proliferation and cardiac regeneration after heart damage such as apical resection. Besides of cardiomyocytes, non-myocytes in heart tissue also play important roles in the regeneration process. Previous studies showed that cardiac macrophages, regulatory T cells and CD4+ T cells are all involved in regulating the myocardial regeneration process. However, the roles of other cardiac immune cells in cardiac regeneration remains to be elucidated. B cells is a prominent immune cell in injured heart; here we discovered the indispensable function of cardiac B cells in improving cardiomyocyte proliferation and heart regeneration in neonatal mice.