Pressure overload-induced hypertrophy in transgenic mice selectively overexpressing AT2 receptors in ventricular myocytes.

The role of the angiotensin II type 2 (AT2) receptor in cardiac hypertrophy remains controversial. We studied the effects of AT2 receptors on chronic pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy in transgenic mice selectively overexpressing AT2 receptors in ventricular myocytes. Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy was induced by ascending aorta banding (AS). Transgenic mice overexpressing AT2 (AT2TG-AS) and nontransgenic mice (NTG-AS) were studied after 70 days of aortic banding. Nonbanded NTG mice were used as controls. LV function was determined by catheterization via LV puncture and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. LV myocyte diameter and interstitial collagen were determined by confocal microscopy. Atrial natriuretic polypeptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) were analyzed by Northern blot. Sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA)2, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), endothelial NOS, ERK1/2, p70S6K, Src-homology 2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase-1, and protein serine/threonine phosphatase 2A were analyzed by Western blot. LV myocyte diameter and collagen were significantly reduced in AT2TG-AS compared with NTG-AS mice. LV anterior and posterior wall thickness were not different between AT2TG-AS and NTG-AS mice. LV systolic and diastolic dimensions were significantly higher in AT2TG-AS than in NTG-AS mice. LV systolic pressure and end-diastolic pressure were lower in AT2TG-AS than in NTG-AS mice. ANP, BNP, and SERCA2 were not different between AT2TG-AS and NTG-AS mice. Phospholamban (PLB) and the PLB-to-SERCA2 ratio were significantly higher in AT2TG-AS than in NTG-AS mice. iNOS was higher in AT2TG-AS than in NTG-AS mice but not significantly different. Our results indicate that AT2 receptor overexpression modified the pathological hypertrophic response to aortic banding in transgenic mice.

Xenografted adult human mesenchymal stem cells provide a platform for sustained biological pacemaker function in canine heart.

BACKGROUND: Biological pacemaking has been performed with viral vectors, human embryonic stem cells, and adult human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) as delivery systems. Only with human embryonic stem cells are data available regarding stability for >2 to 3 weeks, and here, immunosuppression has been used to facilitate survival of xenografts. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether hMSCs provide stable impulse initiation over 6 weeks without the use of immunosuppression, the "dose" of hMSCs that ensures function over this period, and the catecholamine responsiveness of hMSC-packaged pacemakers. METHODS AND RESULTS: A full-length mHCN2 cDNA subcloned in a pIRES2-EGFP vector was electroporated into hMSCs. Transfection efficiency was estimated by GFP expression. I(HCN2) was measured with patch clamp, and cells were administered into the left ventricular anterior wall of adult dogs in complete heart block and with backup electronic pacemakers. Studies encompassed 6 weeks. I(HCN2) for all cells was 32.1+/-1.3 pA/pF (mean+/-SE) at -150 mV. Pacemaker function in intact dogs required 10 to 12 days to fully stabilize and persisted consistently through day 42 in dogs receiving > or =700,000 hMSCs (approximately 40% of which carried current). Rhythms were catecholamine responsive. Tissues from animals killed at 42 days manifested neither apoptosis nor humoral or cellular rejection. CONCLUSIONS: hMSCs provide a means for administering catecholamine-responsive biological pacemakers that function stably for 6 weeks and manifest no cellular or humoral rejection at that time. Cell doses >700,000 are sufficient for pacemaking when administered to left ventricular myocardium.

Heterozygous knockout of neuregulin-1 gene in mice exacerbates doxorubicin-induced heart failure.

Neuregulins and their erbB receptors are essential for cardiac development and postulated to be cardioprotective in the presence of injury in the postnatal heart. We tested the hypothesis that the development of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in vivo is more severe in mice with heterozygous knockout of the neuregulin-1 gene (NRG-1(+/-)) compared with wild-type mice (WT). Three-month old NRG-1(+/-) and WT mice were injected with a single dose of doxorubicin (20 mg/kg ip). Survival was analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier approach. Left ventricular (LV) function and signaling pathways were analyzed 4 days after treatment. Fifteen days after treatment, survival was significantly lower in doxorubicin-treated NRG-1(+/-) mice (NRG-1(+/-)-Dox) compared with doxorubicin-treated WT mice (WT-Dox) (15% vs. 33%, P < 0.01). LV mass was significantly lower in NRG-1(+/-)-Dox but not in WT-Dox compared with nontreated animals. LV systolic pressure and LV midwall fractional shortening were significantly lower in NRG-1(+/-)-Dox compared with WT-Dox mice. LV protein levels of NRG-1, erbB2, and erbB4 receptors were similar in WT-Dox and NRG-1(+/-)-Dox mice. However, levels of phosphorylated erbB2, Akt, and ERK-1/2 were significantly decreased in NRG-1(+/-)-Dox compared with WT-Dox mice. A significant decrease in phosphorylated P70S6K levels was also observed in NRG-1(+/-)-Dox compared with nontreated NRG-1(+/-) mice. These results demonstrate that heterozygous knockout of the neuregulin-1 gene worsens survival and LV function in the presence of doxorubicin-induced cardiac injury in vivo. This is associated with the depression of activation of the erbB2 receptor as well as Akt, p70S6K, and ERK-1/2 pathways.

Chronic ventricular myocyte-specific overexpression of angiotensin II type 2 receptor results in intrinsic myocyte contractile dysfunction.

ANG II type 2 receptor (AT(2)) is upregulated in failing hearts, but its effect on myocyte contractile function is not known. We measured fractional cell shortening and intracellular Ca(2+) concentration transients in left ventricular myocytes derived from transgenic mice in which ventricle-specific expression of AT(2) was driven by the myosin light chain 2v promoter. Confocal microscopy studies confirmed upregulation of AT(2) in the ventricular myocytes and partial colocalization of AT(2) with AT(1). Three components of contractile performance were studied. First, baseline measurements (0.5 Hz, 1.5 mmol/l extracellular Ca(2+) concentration, 25 degrees C) and study of contractile reserve at faster pacing rates (1-5 Hz) revealed Ca(2+)-dependent contractile dysfunction in myocytes from AT(2) transgenic mice. Comparison of two transgenic lines suggested a dose-dependent relationship between magnitude of contractile dysfunction and level of AT(2) expression. Second, activity of the Na(+)/H(+) exchanger, a dominant transporter that regulates beat-to-beat intracellular pH, was impaired in the transgenic myocytes. Third, the inotropic response to beta-adrenergic versus ANG II stimulation differed. Both lines showed impaired contractile response to beta-adrenergic stimulation. ANG II elicited an increase in contractility and intracellular Ca(2+) in wild-type myocytes but caused a negative inotropic effect in myocytes from AT(2) transgenic mice. In contrast with beta-adrenergic response, the depressed response to ANG II was related to level of AT(2) overexpression. The depressed response to ANG II was also present in myocytes from young transgenic mice before development of heart failure. Thus chronic overexpression of AT(2) has the potential to cause Ca(2+)- and pH-dependent contractile dysfunction in ventricular myocytes, as well as loss of the inotropic response to ANG II.

Neuregulins regulate cardiac parasympathetic activity: muscarinic modulation of beta-adrenergic activity in myocytes from mice with neuregulin-1 gene deletion.

BACKGROUND: Neuregulins are required for maintenance of acetylcholine receptor-inducing activity of nicotinic receptors in neurons and skeletal muscle, but effects of neuregulins on muscarinic receptors are not known. In the normal heart, parasympathetic activation counterbalances beta-adrenergic activation. To test the hypothesis that neuregulins modify parasympathetic function in the heart, we studied cardiomyocytes from mice heterozygous for neuregulin-1 gene deletion (NRG-1+/-) and examined the effects of beta-adrenergic stimulation on contractility in the presence and absence of the muscarinic agonist carbachol. METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated contraction and intracellular Ca2+ transients ([Ca2+]i) in left ventricular (LV) myocytes loaded with Fluo-3 from NRG-1+/- and wild-type (WT) mice. Under baseline conditions (0.5 Hz, 1.5 mmol/L [Ca2+]o, 25 degrees C), characteristics of myocyte contraction/relengthening and systolic/diastolic [Ca2+]i were not different between WT and NRG-1+/- mice. The steady-state increases in fractional shortening (FS) and peak-systolic [Ca2+]i in response to isoproterenol were similar in both groups. In WT myocytes stimulated with isoproterenol, carbachol decreased FS, peak-systolic [Ca2+]i, and cAMP levels. In NRG-1+/- myocytes, carbachol did not attenuate either FS or peak-systolic [Ca2+]i, associated with the failure to decrease cAMP levels. Investigation of muscarinic receptor signaling showed no difference of LV protein levels of muscarinic M2 receptors or G protein Galpha(i1,2), Galpha(i3), and Galpha(o) subunits. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiomyocytes deficient in neuregulin signaling are unable to adequately counterbalance beta-adrenergic activation by inhibitory parasympathetic activity. This mechanism may contribute to the known increased risk of heart failure in injured human hearts when neuregulin signaling is suppressed.