Maintaining PGC-1α expression following pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy preserves angiogenesis but not contractile or mitochondrial function.

During pathological hypertrophy, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) is repressed in concert with reduced mitochondrial oxidative capacity and fatty acid oxidation (FAO). We therefore sought to determine if maintaining or increasing PGC-1α levels in the context of pressure overload hypertrophy (POH) would preserve mitochondrial function and prevent contractile dysfunction. Pathological cardiac hypertrophy was induced using 4 wk of transverse aortic constriction (TAC) in mice overexpressing the human PGC-1α genomic locus via a bacterial artificial chromosome (TG) and nontransgenic controls (Cont). PGC-1α levels were increased by 40% in TG mice and were sustained following TAC. Although TAC-induced repression of FAO genes and oxidative phosphorylation (oxphos) genes was prevented in TG mice, mitochondrial function and ATP synthesis were equivalently impaired in Cont and TG mice after TAC. Contractile function was also equally impaired in Cont and TG mice following TAC, as demonstrated by decreased +dP/dt and ejection fraction and increased left ventricular developed pressure and end diastolic pressure. Conversely, capillary density was preserved, in concert with increased VEGF expression, while apoptosis and fibrosis were reduced in TG relative to Cont mice after TAC. Hence, sustaining physiological levels of PGC-1α expression following POH, while preserving myocardial vascularity, does not prevent mitochondrial and contractile dysfunction.

GLUT1 deficiency in cardiomyocytes does not accelerate the transition from compensated hypertrophy to heart failure.

The aim of this study was to determine whether endogenous GLUT1 induction and the increased glucose utilization that accompanies pressure overload hypertrophy (POH) are required to maintain cardiac function during hemodynamic stress, and to test the hypothesis that lack of GLUT1 will accelerate the transition to heart failure. To determine the contribution of endogenous GLUT1 to the cardiac adaptation to POH, male mice with cardiomyocyte-restricted deletion of the GLUT1 gene (G1KO) and their littermate controls (Cont) were subjected to transverse aortic constriction (TAC). GLUT1 deficiency reduced glycolysis and glucose oxidation by 50%, which was associated with a reciprocal increase in fatty acid oxidation (FAO) relative to controls. Four weeks after TAC, glycolysis increased and FAO decreased by 50% in controls, but were unchanged in G1KO hearts relative to shams. G1KO and controls exhibited equivalent degrees of cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and capillary density loss after TAC. Following TAC, in vivo left ventricular developed pressure was decreased in G1KO hearts relative to controls, but+dP/dt was equivalently reduced in Cont and G1KO mice. Mitochondrial function was equivalently impaired following TAC in both Cont and G1KO hearts. GLUT1 deficiency in cardiomyocytes alters myocardial substrate utilization, but does not substantially exacerbate pressure-overload induced contractile dysfunction or accelerate the progression to heart failure.

Corrigendum: Snf1-related kinase improves cardiac mitochondrial efficiency and decreases mitochondrial uncoupling.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14095.

Snf1-related kinase improves cardiac mitochondrial efficiency and decreases mitochondrial uncoupling.

Ischaemic heart disease limits oxygen and metabolic substrate availability to the heart, resulting in tissue death. Here, we demonstrate that the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-related protein Snf1-related kinase (SNRK) decreases cardiac metabolic substrate usage and mitochondrial uncoupling, and protects against ischaemia/reperfusion. Hearts from transgenic mice overexpressing SNRK have decreased glucose and palmitate metabolism and oxygen consumption, but maintained power and function. They also exhibit decreased uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) and mitochondrial uncoupling. Conversely, Snrk knockout mouse hearts have increased glucose and palmitate oxidation and UCP3. SNRK knockdown in cardiac cells decreases mitochondrial efficiency, which is abolished with UCP3 knockdown. We show that Tribbles homologue 3 (Trib3) binds to SNRK, and downregulates UCP3 through PPARα. Finally, SNRK is increased in cardiomyopathy patients, and SNRK reduces infarct size after ischaemia/reperfusion. SNRK also decreases cardiac cell death in a UCP3-dependent manner. Our results suggest that SNRK improves cardiac mitochondrial efficiency and ischaemic protection.

Insulin receptor substrates are essential for the bioenergetic and hypertrophic response of the heart to exercise training.

Insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) receptor signaling pathways differentially modulate cardiac growth under resting conditions and following exercise training. These effects are mediated by insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) and IRS2, which also differentially regulate resting cardiac mass. To determine the role of IRS isoforms in mediating the hypertrophic and metabolic adaptations of the heart to exercise training, we subjected mice with cardiomyocyte-specific deletion of either IRS1 (CIRS1 knockout [CIRS1KO] mice) or IRS2 (CIRS2KO mice) to swim training. CIRS1KO hearts were reduced in size under basal conditions, whereas CIRS2KO hearts exhibited hypertrophy. Following exercise swim training in CIRS1KO and CIRS2KO hearts, the hypertrophic response was equivalently attenuated, phosphoinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) activation was blunted, and prohypertrophic signaling intermediates, such as Akt and glycogen synthase kinase 3ß (GSK3ß), were dephosphorylated potentially on the basis of reduced Janus kinase-mediated inhibition of protein phosphatase 2a (PP2A). Exercise training increased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α) protein content, mitochondrial capacity, fatty acid oxidation, and glycogen synthesis in wild-type (WT) controls but not in IRS1- and IRS2-deficient hearts. PGC-1α protein content remained unchanged in CIRS1KO but decreased in CIRS2KO hearts. These results indicate that although IRS isoforms play divergent roles in the developmental regulation of cardiac size, these isoforms exhibit nonredundant roles in mediating the hypertrophic and metabolic response of the heart to exercise.

Insulin inhibits cardiac contractility by inducing a Gi-biased ß2-adrenergic signaling in hearts.

Insulin and adrenergic stimulation are two divergent regulatory systems that may interact under certain pathophysiological circumstances. Here, we characterized a complex consisting of insulin receptor (IR) and ß2-adrenergic receptor (ß2AR) in the heart. The IR/ß2AR complex undergoes dynamic dissociation under diverse conditions such as Langendorff perfusions of hearts with insulin or after euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamps in vivo. Activation of IR with insulin induces protein kinase A (PKA) and G-protein receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) phosphorylation of the ß2AR, which promotes ß2AR coupling to the inhibitory G-protein, Gi. The insulin-induced phosphorylation of ß2AR is dependent on IRS1 and IRS2. After insulin pretreatment, the activated ß2AR-Gi signaling effectively attenuates cAMP/PKA activity after ß-adrenergic stimulation in cardiomyocytes and consequently inhibits PKA phosphorylation of phospholamban and contractile responses in myocytes in vitro and in Langendorff perfused hearts. These data indicate that increased IR signaling, as occurs in hyperinsulinemic states, may directly impair ßAR-regulated cardiac contractility. This ß2AR-dependent IR and ßAR signaling cross-talk offers a molecular basis for the broad interaction between these signaling cascades in the heart and other tissues or organs that may contribute to the pathophysiology of metabolic and cardiovascular dysfunction in insulin-resistant states.

Inducible overexpression of GLUT1 prevents mitochondrial dysfunction and attenuates structural remodeling in pressure overload but does not prevent left ventricular dysfunction.

BACKGROUND: Increased glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) expression and glucose utilization that accompany pressure overload-induced hypertrophy (POH) are believed to be cardioprotective. Moreover, it has been shown that lifelong transgenic overexpression of GLUT1 in the heart prevents cardiac dysfunction after aortic constriction. The relevance of this model to clinical practice is unclear because of the life-long duration of increased glucose metabolism. Therefore, we sought to determine if a short-term increase in GLUT1-mediated myocardial glucose uptake would still confer cardioprotection if overexpression occurred at the onset of POH. METHODS AND RESULTS: Mice with cardiomyocyte-specific inducible overexpression of a hemagglutinin (HA)-tagged GLUT1 transgene (G1HA) and their controls (Cont) were subjected to transverse aortic constriction (TAC) 2 days after transgene induction with doxycycline (DOX). Analysis was performed 4 weeks after TAC. Mitochondrial function, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis, and mRNA expression of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) genes were reduced in Cont mice, but were maintained in concert with increased glucose utilization in G1HA following TAC. Despite attenuated adverse remodeling in G1HA relative to control TAC mice, cardiac hypertrophy was exacerbated in these mice, and positive dP/dt (in vivo) and cardiac power (ex vivo) were equivalently decreased in Cont and G1HA TAC mice compared to shams, consistent with left ventricular dysfunction. O-GlcNAcylation of Ca2+ cycling proteins was increased in G1HA TAC hearts. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term cardiac specific induction of GLUT1 at the onset of POH preserves mitochondrial function and attenuates pathological remodeling, but exacerbates the hypertrophic phenotype and is insufficient to prevent POH-induced cardiac contractile dysfunction, possibly due to impaired calcium cycling.

Cardiac PI3K-Akt impairs insulin-stimulated glucose uptake independent of mTORC1 and GLUT4 translocation.

Impaired insulin-mediated glucose uptake characterizes cardiac muscle in humans and animals with insulin resistance and diabetes, despite preserved or enhanced phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and the serine-threonine kinase, Akt-signaling, via mechanisms that are incompletely understood. One potential mechanism is PI3K- and Akt-mediated activation of mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6K), which may impair insulin-mediated activation of insulin receptor substrate (IRS)1/2 via inhibitory serine phosphorylation or proteasomal degradation. To gain mechanistic insights by which constitutive activation of PI3K or Akt may desensitize insulin-mediated glucose uptake in cardiomyocytes, we examined mice with cardiomyocyte-restricted, constitutive or inducible overexpression of a constitutively activated PI3K or a myristoylated Akt1 (myrAkt1) transgene that also expressed a myc-epitope-tagged glucose transporter type 4 protein (GLUT4). Although short-term activation of PI3K and myrAkt1 increased mTOR and S6 signaling, there was no impairment in insulin-mediated activation of IRS1/2. However, insulin-mediated glucose uptake was reduced by 50-80%. Although longer-term activation of Akt reduced IRS2 protein content via an mTORC1-mediated mechanism, treatment of transgenic mice with rapamycin failed to restore insulin-mediated glucose uptake, despite restoring IRS2. Transgenic activation of Akt and insulin-stimulation of myrAkt1 transgenic cardiomyocytes increased sarcolemmal insertion of myc-GLUT4 to levels equivalent to that observed in insulin-stimulated wild-type controls. Despite preserved GLUT4 translocation, glucose uptake was not elevated by the presence of constitutive activation of PI3K and Akt. Hexokinase II activity was preserved in myrAkt1 hearts. Thus, constitutive activation of PI3K and Akt in cardiomyocytes impairs GLUT4-mediated glucose uptake via mechanisms that impair the function of GLUT4 after its plasma-membrane insertion.