A role for focal adhesion kinase in cardiac mitochondrial biogenesis induced by mechanical stress.

We studied the implication of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in cardiac mitochondrial biogenesis induced by mechanical stress. Prolonged stretching (2-12 h) of neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVM) upregulated the main components of mitochondrial transcription cascade [peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivator-1 (PGC-1α), nuclear respiratory factor (NRF-1), and mitochondrial transcription factor A]. Concomitantly, prolonged stretching enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis [copy number of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), content of the subunit IV of cytochrome oxidase, and mitochondrial staining-green fluorescence intensity of Mitotracker green] and induced the hypertrophic growth (cell size and atrial natriuretic peptide transcripts) of NRVM. Furthermore, the stretching of NRVM enhanced phosphorylation, nuclear localization, and association of FAK with PGC-1α. Recombinant FAK COOH-terminal, but not the NH(2)-terminal or kinase domain, precipitated PGC-1α from nuclear extracts of NRVM. Depletion of FAK by RNA interference suppressed the upregulation of PGC-1α and NRF-1 and markedly attenuated the enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis and hypertrophic growth of stretched NRVM. In the context of energy metabolism, FAK depletion became manifest by a reduction of ATP levels in stretched NRVM. Complementary studies in adult mice left ventricle demonstrated that pressure overload upregulated PGC-1α, NRF-1, and mtDNA. In vivo FAK silencing transiently attenuated the upregulation of PGC-1α, NRF-1, and mtDNA, as well as the left ventricular hypertrophy induced by pressure overload. In conclusion, activation of FAK signaling seems to be important for conferring enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis coupled to the hypertrophic growth of cardiomyocytes in response to mechanical stress, via control of mitochondrial transcription cascade.

FAK mediates the activation of cardiac fibroblasts induced by mechanical stress through regulation of the mTOR complex.

AIMS: Cardiac fibroblasts are activated by mechanical stress, but the underlying mechanisms involved remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated whether focal adhesion kinase (FAK) plays a role in the activation of cardiac fibroblasts in response to cyclic stretch. METHODS AND RESULTS: Neonatal (NF-P3/80--third passage, 80% confluence) and adult (AF-P1/80--first passage, 80% confluence) rat cardiac fibroblasts were exposed to cyclic stretch (biaxial, 1 Hz), which enhanced FAK phosphorylation at Tyr397. Proliferation (anti-5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine and anti-Ki67 nuclear labelling), differentiation into myofibroblasts (expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin--alpha-SMA), and the activity of matrix metalloproteinase-2 were equally enhanced in stretched NF-P3/80 and AF-P1/80. Treatment with the integrin inhibitor RGD peptide impaired FAK phosphorylation and increased apoptosis (TUNEL) in non-stretched and stretched NF-P3/80, whereas FAK silencing induced by small interfering RNA modestly enhanced apoptosis only in stretched cells. RGD peptide or FAK silencing suppressed the activation of NF-P3/80 invoked by cyclic stretch. In addition, NF-P3/80 depleted of FAK were defective in AKT Ser473, TSC-2 Thr1462, and S6 kinase Thr389 phosphorylation induced by cyclic stretch. The activation of NF-P3/80 invoked by cyclic stretch was prevented by pre-treatment with the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor rapamycin, whereas supplementation with the amino acid, leucine, activated S6K and rescued the stretch-induced activation of NF-P3/80 depleted of FAK. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate a critical role for the mTOR complex, downstream from FAK, in mediating the activation of cardiac fibroblasts in response to mechanical stress.