The DWORF micropeptide enhances contractility and prevents heart failure in a mouse model of dilated cardiomyopathy
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, United States
- Loyola University Chicago, United States
Abstract
Calcium (Ca2+) dysregulation is a hallmark of heart failure and is characterized by impaired Ca2+ sequestration into the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) by the SR-Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA). We recently discovered a micropeptide named DWORF (DWarf Open Reading Frame) that enhances SERCA activity by displacing phospholamban (PLN), a potent SERCA inhibitor. Here we show that DWORF has a higher apparent binding affinity for SERCA than PLN and that DWORF overexpression mitigates the contractile dysfunction associated with PLN overexpression, substantiating its role as a potent activator of SERCA. Additionally, using a well-characterized mouse model of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) due to genetic deletion of the muscle-specific LIM domain protein (MLP), we show that DWORF overexpression restores cardiac function and prevents the pathological remodeling and Ca2+ dysregulation classically exhibited by MLP knockout mice. Our results establish DWORF as a potent activator of SERCA within the heart and as an attractive candidate for a heart failure therapeutic.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
National Institutes of Health (R01 (HL-130253))
- Rhonda Bassel-Duby
- Eric N Olson
Welch Foundation (Research Grant)
- Eric N Olson
Fondation Leducq (Research Grant)
- Eric N Olson
National Institutes of Health (R01 (HD-087351))
- Eric N Olson
National Institutes of Health (R01 (HL-092321))
- Seth L Robia
National Institutes of Health (F32 (HL-129674))
- Catherine A Makarewich
National Institutes of Health (K99 (HL-141630))
- Catherine A Makarewich
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. Animal work described in this manuscript has been approved and conducted under the oversight of the UT Southwestern Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). All of the animals were handled according to approved IACUC protocols (#2017-102269 and #2016-101833) of the UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Copyright
© 2018, Makarewich et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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The DWORF micropeptide enhances contractility and prevents heart failure in a mouse model of dilated cardiomyopathy
eLife 7:e38319.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.38319
Further reading
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- Cell Biology
- Medicine
Background:
It has been reported that loss of PCBP2 led to increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and accelerated cell aging. Knockdown of PCBP2 in HCT116 cells leads to significant downregulation of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2). Here, we tried to elucidate the intrinsic factors and potential mechanisms of bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs) aging from the interactions among PCBP2, ROS, and FGF2.
Methods:
Unlabeled quantitative proteomics were performed to show differentially expressed proteins in the replicative senescent human bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (RS-hBMSCs). ROS and FGF2 were detected in the loss-and-gain cell function experiments of PCBP2. The functional recovery experiments were performed to verify whether PCBP2 regulates cell function through ROS/FGF2-dependent ways.
Results:
PCBP2 expression was significantly lower in P10-hBMSCs. Knocking down the expression of PCBP2 inhibited the proliferation while accentuated the apoptosis and cell arrest of RS-hBMSCs. PCBP2 silence could increase the production of ROS. On the contrary, overexpression of PCBP2 increased the viability of both P3-hBMSCs and P10-hBMSCs significantly. Meanwhile, overexpression of PCBP2 led to significantly reduced expression of FGF2. Overexpression of FGF2 significantly offset the effect of PCBP2 overexpression in P10-hBMSCs, leading to decreased cell proliferation, increased apoptosis, and reduced G0/G1 phase ratio of the cells.
Conclusions:
This study initially elucidates that PCBP2 as an intrinsic aging factor regulates the replicative senescence of hBMSCs through the ROS-FGF2 signaling axis.
Funding:
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82172474).
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- Cell Biology
- Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
Conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) can serve as a nutritional intervention to regulate quality, function, and fat infiltration in skeletal muscles, but the specific cytological mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we applied single-nucleus RNA-sequencing (snRNA-seq) to characterize the cytological mechanism of CLAs regulates fat infiltration in skeletal muscles based on pig models. We investigated the regulatory effects of CLAs on cell populations and molecular characteristics in pig muscles and found CLAs could promote the transformation of fast glycolytic myofibers into slow oxidative myofibers. We also observed three subpopulations including SCD+/DGAT2+, FABP5+/SIAH1+, and PDE4D+/PDE7B+ subclusters in adipocytes and CLAs could increase the percentage of SCD+/DGAT2+ adipocytes. RNA velocity analysis showed FABP5+/SIAH1+ and PDE4D+/PDE7B+ adipocytes could differentiate into SCD+/DGAT2+ adipocytes. We further verified the differentiated trajectory of mature adipocytes and identified PDE4D+/PDE7B+ adipocytes could differentiate into SCD+/DGAT2+ and FABP5+/SIAH1+ adipocytes by using high intramuscular fat (IMF) content Laiwu pig models. The cell-cell communication analysis identified the interaction network between adipocytes and other subclusters such as fibro/adipogenic progenitors (FAPs). Pseudotemporal trajectory analysis and RNA velocity analysis also showed FAPs could differentiate into PDE4D+/PDE7B+ preadipocytes and we discovered the differentiated trajectory of preadipocytes into mature adipocytes. Besides, we found CLAs could promote FAPs differentiate into SCD+/DGAT2+ adipocytes via inhibiting c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway in vitro. This study provides a foundation for regulating fat infiltration in skeletal muscles by using nutritional strategies and provides potential opportunities to serve pig as an animal model to study human fat infiltrated diseases.
