Potential diagnostic biomarkers: 6 cuproptosis- and ferroptosis-related genes linking immune infiltration in acute myocardial infarction.

The current diagnostic biomarkers of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), troponins, lack specificity and exist as false positives in other non-cardiac diseases. Previous studies revealed that cuproptosis, ferroptosis, and immune infiltration are all involved in the development of AMI. We hypothesize that combining the analysis of cuproptosis, ferroptosis, and immune infiltration in AMI will help identify more precise diagnostic biomarkers. The results showed that a total of 19 cuproptosis- and ferroptosis-related genes (CFRGs) were differentially expressed between the healthy and AMI groups. Functional enrichment analysis showed that the differential CFRGs were mostly enriched in biological processes related to oxidative stress and the inflammatory response. The immune infiltration status analyzed by ssGSEA found elevated levels of macrophages, neutrophils, and CCR in AMI. Then, we screened 6 immune-related CFRGs (CXCL2, DDIT3, DUSP1, CDKN1A, TLR4, STAT3) to construct a nomogram for predicting AMI and validated it in the GSE109048 dataset. Moreover, we also identified 5 pivotal miRNAs and 10 candidate drugs that target the 6 feature genes. Finally, RT-qPCR analysis verified that all 6 feature genes were upregulated in both animals and patients. In conclusion, our study reveals the significance of immune-related CFRGs in AMI and provides new insights for AMI diagnosis and treatment.

Serum irisin correlates to the severity of acute myocardial infarction and predicts the postoperative major adverse cardiovascular events.

Irisin is a myogenic cytokine which plays an important role in the cardiovascular system. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between serum irisin levels and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A total of 207 patients with AMI who underwent PCI were selected as research subjects. Serum irisin levels at admission were measured, and patients were stratified according to the receiver operating characteristic curve to assess differences in MACE within one year after PCI. After one year of follow-up, 207 patients were divided into two groups, 86 with MACE and 121 without MACE. There were significant differences in age, Killip grade, left ventricular ejection fraction, cardiac troponin I, creatine kinase-muscle/brain, and serum irisin between the two groups. Serum irisin level at admission in AMI patients significantly correlated with the occurrence of MACE after PCI, and could be used as an effective marker for predicting the occurrence of MACE in AMI patients after PCI.

The Action and Mechanism of Trehalose on GATA4 Autophagy Degradation and Ventricular Remodeling.

OBJECTIVE: To probe the effect of trehalose on myocardial hypertrophy and its specific molecular mechanism. METHODS: C57BL/6J male mice were divided into four subgroups: Sham operation subgroup (Sham), negative sham subgroup (Sham+Trehalose), transverse aortic constriction (TAC), and trehalose treatment subgroup (TAC+Trehalose). Immediately after the TAC operation, trehalose at a dose of 10 mg/kg was given daily via gavage. After four weeks, changes in cardiac function were evaluated using ultrasound to measure EF (ejection fraction), FS (fractional shortening), IVRT (isovolumic relaxation time), MPI (myocardial performance index), Tau (isovolumic relaxation time constant), LVESP (left ventricular end-systolic pressure), and EDPVR (end-diastolic pressure-volume relationship). The profiles of autophagy-associated proteins (p62, LC3II/I, and Beclin-1) and GATA4 protein in mice myocardial tissues were assessed by Western blotting (WB). Myocardial cells were classified from TAC mice into five groups: Control, Trehalose, Phenylephrine (PE), PE+Trehalose, and PE+Trehalose+autophagy inhibitor chloroquine groups. In the PE group, cardiomyocytes were treated with 50 µmol/L PE. Then, the cells were treated with trehalose (100 µmol/L), trehalose (100 µmol/L)+autophagy (20 µmol/L) for 24 hours respectively. The Control group was treated with the same amount of normal saline. Flow cytometry was utilized to detect myocardial cell apoptosis in each subgroup. The alterations in apoptosis and autophagy-correlated proteins (p62, LC3II/I, and Beclin-1) were assessed by WB. Additionally, the level of GATA4 protein upstream of autophagy was estimated. Furthermore, the expression levels of pro-apoptotic proteins Bad, BAX, Cleaved-caspase-3, and anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 were examined by WB. RESULTS: The TAC operation significantly augmented myocardial hypertrophy, heart weight-to-body weight ratio, and myocardial cell apoptosis in mice (p < 0.05). Trehalose significantly improved cardiac hypertrophy, cardiomyocyte apoptosis, and cardiac function decline in mice. Additionally, it also significantly enhanced autophagy in mouse cardiac tissues (p < 0.05). At the cellular level, trehalose significantly decreased PE-elicited apoptosis and promoted the protein expressions of Beclin-1 and LC3 II/I in cardiomyocytes while significantly dampening the profiles of p62 and GATA4 in cells. The effect of trehalose and chloroquine treatment was significantly greater than that of the trehalose group. CONCLUSIONS: Trehalose significantly abates myocardial hypertrophy and pressure overload-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis in mice. The cardioprotective effect of trehalose on enhanced autophagy is attributed, at least in part, to the promotion of autophagic degradation of GATA4.

Circ_0068655 Promotes Cardiomyocyte Apoptosis via miR-498/PAWR Axis.

BACKGROUND: The cardiomyocyte apoptosis is considered as one of major contributions to cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). Numerous studies find that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play pivotal roles in a variety of biological functions. However, the role of circ_0068655 in MI and human induced pluripotent stem-derived cardiomyocytes (HCMs) remains unknown. METHODS: The expression of circ_0068655, miR-498, and PRKC apoptosis WT1 regulator (PAWR) in human MI heart tissues and hypoxia subjected HCMs was evaluated with qRT-PCR and Western blot. The effects of circ_0068655 on hypoxia-induced apoptotic death and cell migration in HCMs were evaluated with qRT-PCR, cell viability, cell death ELISA (POD), and Caspase-3 activity assay, and Trans-well assay, respectively. Furthermore, luciferase assay, qRT-PCR, biotin-labeled miRNA pulldown assay, and Western blot were employed in the functional studies. RESULTS: We found that the expression of circ_0068655 and PAWR was enhanced in MI patients and hypoxia subjected HCMs; by contrast, the expression of miR-498 decreased. Inhibited expression of circ_0068655 in HMCs counteracted hypoxia-induced apoptotic death and impaired cell migration, in sharp contrast to circ_0068655 knockdown. We identified that circ_0068655 sponged an endogenous miR-498 to sequester and inhibit its activity, leading to the increased PAWR expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal that the expression of circ_0068655 can promote cardiomyocyte apoptosis through the modulation of miR-498-PAWR axis in vitro, which highlights the diagnostic and therapeutic value of circ_0068655 in patients with MI.