51
|
Aherrahrou Z, Axtner SB, Kaczmarek PM, Jurat A, Korff S, Doehring LC, Weichenhan D, Katus HA, Ivandic BT. A locus on chromosome 7 determines dramatic up-regulation of osteopontin in dystrophic cardiac calcification in mice. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY 2004; 164:1379-87. [PMID: 15039225 PMCID: PMC1615353 DOI: 10.1016/s0002-9440(10)63224-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Calcification of necrotic tissue is frequently observed in chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis. A similar response of myocardium to injury, referred to as dystrophic cardiac calcinosis (DCC), occurs in certain inbred strains of mice. We now examined a putative inhibitor of calcification, osteopontin, in DCC after transdiaphragmal myocardial freeze-thaw injury. Strong osteopontin expression was found co-localizing with calcification in DCC-susceptible strain C3H/HeNCrlBr, which exhibited low osteopontin plasma concentrations otherwise. Osteopontin mRNA induction was 20-fold higher than in resistant strain C57BL/6NCrlBr, which exhibited fibrous lesions without calcification and little osteopontin expression. Sequence analysis identified several polymorphisms in calcium-binding and phosphorylation sites in osteopontin cDNA. Their potential relevance for DCC was tested in congenic mice, which shared the osteopontin locus with C57BL/6NCrlBr, but retained a chromosomal segment from C3H/HeNCrlBr on proximal chromosome 7. These mice exhibited strong osteopontin expression and DCC comparable to C3H/HeNCrlBr suggesting that a trans-activator of osteopontin transcription residing on chromosome 7 and not the osteopontin gene on chromosome 5 was responsible for the genetic differences in osteopontin expression. A known osteopontin activator encoded by a gene on chromosome 7 is the transforming growth factor-beta1, which was more induced (3.5x) in C3H/HeNCrlBr than in C57BL/6NCrlBr mice.
Collapse
|
52
|
Abstract
The ability to modify the mouse genome has yielded new insights into the genetic control of mammalian cardiovascular development. However, it is far less understood how genetic factors and their consequent structural changes alter cardiovascular function, a void largely due to the lack of effective noninvasive techniques to assess function in the developing mouse cardiovascular system. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM)-Doppler echocardiography for analyzing cardiovascular function in the embryonic mouse in utero. "Cardiovascular function" encompasses broad aspects of physiology, including systolic and diastolic cardiac function, distribution of blood flow among various embryonic vascular beds, and vascular bed properties (impedance). A wide range of physiological measurements is possible using UBM-Doppler, but it is clear that the limitations of any single measurement warrant a multi-parameter approach to characterizing cardiovascular function. We further discuss the prospects for UBM-Doppler analysis of alternative vertebrate systems increasingly studied in developmental biology. The ability to correlate cardiovascular physiological phenotypes with their corresponding genotypes should lead to the elucidation of mechanisms underlying normal development, as well as embryonic disease and death.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Colin K L Phoon
- Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
53
|
Chung MW, Tsoutsman T, Semsarian C. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: from gene defect to clinical disease. Cell Res 2003; 13:9-20. [PMID: 12643345 DOI: 10.1038/sj.cr.7290146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Major advances have been made over the last decade in our understanding of the molecular basis of several cardiac conditions. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) was the first cardiac disorder in which a genetic basis was identified and as such, has acted as a paradigm for the study of an inherited cardiac disorder. HCM can result in clinical symptoms ranging from no symptoms to severe heart failure and premature sudden death. HCM is the commonest cause of sudden death in those aged less than 35 years, including competitive athletes. At least ten genes have now been identified, defects in which cause HCM. All of these genes encode proteins which comprise the basic contractile unit of the heart, i.e. the sarcomere. While much is now known about which genes cause disease and the various clinical presentations, very little is known about how these gene defects cause disease, and what factors modify the expression of the mutant genes. Studies in both cell culture and animal models of HCM are now beginning to shed light on the signalling pathways involved in HCM, and the role of both environmental and genetic modifying factors. Understanding these mechanisms will ultimately improve our knowledge of the basic biology of heart muscle function, and will therefore provide new avenues for treating cardiovascular disease in man.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Man-Wei Chung
- Molecular Cardiology Group, Centenary Institute, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
54
|
Sakata Y, Kamei CN, Nakagami H, Bronson R, Liao JK, Chin MT. Ventricular septal defect and cardiomyopathy in mice lacking the transcription factor CHF1/Hey2. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2002; 99:16197-202. [PMID: 12454287 PMCID: PMC138588 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.252648999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 147] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Ventricular septal defects are common in human infants, but the genetic programs that control ventricular septation are poorly understood. Here we report that mice with a targeted disruption of the cardiovascular basic helix-loop-helix factor (CHF)1Hey2 gene show isolated ventricular septal defects. These defects result primarily in failure to thrive. Mice often succumbed within the first 3 wk after birth and showed pulmonary and liver congestion. The penetrance of this phenotype varied, depending on genetic background, suggesting the presence of modifier genes. Expression patterns of other cardiac-specific genes were not affected. Of the few animals on a mixed genetic background that survived to adulthood, most developed a cardiomyopathy but did not have ventricular septal defects. Our results indicate that CHF1 plays an important role in regulation of ventricular septation in mammalian heart development and is important for normal myocardial contractility. These mice provide a useful model for the study of the ontogeny and natural history of ventricular septal defects and cardiomyopathy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yasuhiko Sakata
- Vascular Medicine Research, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
55
|
Matsuno H, Kozawa O, Yoshimi N, Akamatsu S, Hara A, Mori H, Okada K, Ueshima S, Matsuo O, Uematsu T. Lack of alpha2-antiplasmin promotes pulmonary heart failure via overrelease of VEGF after acute myocardial infarction. Blood 2002; 100:2487-93. [PMID: 12239160 DOI: 10.1182/blood-2001-12-0251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Identification of a novel therapy for prevention of sudden death by ischemic cardiac infarction is an area of intensive investigation. We here report that the mortality due to an experimental acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was markedly increased in mice deficient in alpha2-antiplasmin (alpha2-AP(-/-) mice) but not in mice deficient in other components acting in fibrinolysis (tissue-type PA, urokinase type PA, or plasminogen activator inhibitor-1) even if the infarct area in alpha2-AP(-/-) mice was not different from those in the other mice. Echocardiography showed in alpha2-AP(-/-) mice after AMI an overload of the right ventricle and that pulmonary permeability was increased. According to the experiments using explanted myocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells, it was found that the amount of secreted vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) in alpha2-AP(-/-) mice was markedly increased compared with that in wild-type mice. Finally, an injection of an anti-VEGF antibody decreased the mortality after AMI in alpha2-AP(-/-) mice. Plasmin cleaves extracellular matrix-bound VEGF to release a diffusible proteolytic fragment and is inactivated mainly by alpha2-AP. Therefore, lack of alpha2-AP could markedly result in overrelease of VEGF by the continuous activation of plasmin because of AMI and could result in an acute cor pulmonale. Our results provide new aspects on the role of alpha2-AP and VEGF in the pathogenesis of cardiac events.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hiroyuki Matsuno
- Departments of Pharmacology and Critical Care Medicine and the First Department of Pathology, Gifu University School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
56
|
Zhou YQ, Foster FS, Qu DW, Zhang M, Harasiewicz KA, Adamson SL. Applications for multifrequency ultrasound biomicroscopy in mice from implantation to adulthood. Physiol Genomics 2002; 10:113-26. [PMID: 12181368 DOI: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00119.2001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
A new multifrequency (19-55 MHz) ultrasound biomicroscope with two-dimensional imaging and integrated Doppler ultrasound was evaluated using phantoms and isoflurane-anesthetized mice. Phantoms revealed the biomicroscope's lateral resolution was between 50 and 100 microm, whereas that of a conventional 13 MHz ultrasound system was 200-500 microm. This difference was apparent in the markedly higher resolution images achieved using the biomicroscope in vivo. Transcutaneous images of embryos in pregnant mice from approximately 2 days after implantation (7 days gestation) to near term (17.5 days) were obtained using frequencies from 25 to 40 MHz. The ectoplacental cone and early embryonic cavities were visible as were the placenta and embryonic organs throughout development to term. We also evaluated the ability of the biomicroscope to detect important features of heart development by examining embryos from 8.5 to 17.5 day gestation in exteriorized uteri using 55 MHz ultrasound. Cardiac looping, division of the outflow tract, and ventricular septation were visible. In postnatal imaging, we observed the heart and kidney of neonatal mice at 55 MHz, the carotid artery in juveniles (approximately 8 g body wt) and adults (approximately 25 g body wt) at 40 MHz, and the adult heart, aorta, and kidney at 19 MHz. The coefficient of variation of carotid and aortic diameter measurements was 1-3%. In addition, blisters in GRIP1 -/- embryos and aortic valvular stenosis in two adults were readily visualized. Using image-guided Doppler function, low blood velocities in vessels as small as 100 microm in diameter including the primitive heart tube at day 8.5 were measurable, but high blood velocities (>37.5 cm/s) such as in the heart and large arteries in late gestation and postnatal life were off-scale. Accurate cardiac dimension measurements were impeded by poor temporal resolution (4 frames/s). In summary, the multifrequency ultrasound biomicroscope is a versatile tool well suited to detailed study of the morphology of various organ systems throughout development in mice and for hemodynamic measurements in the low velocity range.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Y Q Zhou
- Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 1X5
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
57
|
|
58
|
Yussman MG, Toyokawa T, Odley A, Lynch RA, Wu G, Colbert MC, Aronow BJ, Lorenz JN, Dorn GW. Mitochondrial death protein Nix is induced in cardiac hypertrophy and triggers apoptotic cardiomyopathy. Nat Med 2002; 8:725-30. [PMID: 12053174 DOI: 10.1038/nm719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 226] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Loss of cardiomyocytes through programmed cell death is a key event in the development of heart failure, but the inciting molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. We used microarray analysis to identify a genetic program for myocardial apoptosis in Gq-mediated and pressure-overload cardiac hypertrophy. A critical component of this apoptotic program was Nix/Bnip3L. Nix localized to mitochondria and caused release of cytochrome c, activation of caspase-3 and apoptotic cell death, when expressed in HEK293 fibroblasts. A previously undescribed truncated Nix isoform, termed sNix, was not targeted to mitochondria but heterodimerized with Nix and protected against Nix-mediated apoptosis. Forced in vivo myocardial expression of Nix resulted in apoptotic cardiomyopathy and rapid death. Conversely, sNix protected against apoptotic peripartum cardiomyopathy in G(alpha)q-overexpressors. Thus, Nix/Bnip3L is upregulated in myocardial hypertrophy, and is both necessary and sufficient for Gq-mediated apoptosis of cardiomyocytes and resulting hypertrophy decompensation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Martin G Yussman
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
59
|
Stypmann J, Gläser K, Roth W, Tobin DJ, Petermann I, Matthias R, Mönnig G, Haverkamp W, Breithardt G, Schmahl W, Peters C, Reinheckel T. Dilated cardiomyopathy in mice deficient for the lysosomal cysteine peptidase cathepsin L. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2002; 99:6234-9. [PMID: 11972068 PMCID: PMC122932 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.092637699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 143] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Dilated cardiomyopathy is a frequent cause of heart failure and is associated with high mortality. Progressive remodeling of the myocardium leads to increased dimensions of heart chambers. The role of intracellular proteolysis in the progressive remodeling that underlies dilated cardiomyopathy has not received much attention yet. Here, we report that the lysosomal cysteine peptidase cathepsin L (CTSL) is critical for cardiac morphology and function. One-year-old CTSL-deficient mice show significant ventricular and atrial enlargement that is associated with a comparatively small increase in relative heart weight. Interstitial fibrosis and pleomorphic nuclei were found in the myocardium of the knockout mice. By electron microscopy, CTSL-deficient cardiomyocytes contained multiple large and apparently fused lysosomes characterized by storage of electron-dense heterogeneous material. Accordingly, the assessment of left ventricular function by echocardiography revealed severely impaired myocardial contraction in the CTSL-deficient mice. In addition, echocardiographic and electrocardiographic findings to some degree point to left ventricular hypertrophy that most likely represents an adaptive response to cardiac impairment. The histomorphological and functional alterations of CTSL-deficient hearts result in valve insufficiencies. Furthermore, abnormal heart rhythms, like supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular extrasystoles, and first-degree atrioventricular block, were detected in the CTSL-deficient mice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jörg Stypmann
- Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik C (Kardiologie und Angiologie), Universitätsklinikum Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, D-48149 Münster, Germany
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
60
|
Semsarian C, Ahmad I, Giewat M, Georgakopoulos D, Schmitt JP, McConnell BK, Reiken S, Mende U, Marks AR, Kass DA, Seidman CE, Seidman J. The L-type calcium channel inhibitor diltiazem prevents cardiomyopathy in a mouse model. J Clin Invest 2002. [DOI: 10.1172/jci200214677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 214] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
|
61
|
Semsarian C, Ahmad I, Giewat M, Georgakopoulos D, Schmitt JP, McConnell BK, Reiken S, Mende U, Marks AR, Kass DA, Seidman CE, Seidman JG. The L-type calcium channel inhibitor diltiazem prevents cardiomyopathy in a mouse model. J Clin Invest 2002; 109:1013-20. [PMID: 11956238 PMCID: PMC150949 DOI: 10.1172/jci14677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Dominant mutations in sarcomere protein genes cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an inherited human disorder with increased ventricular wall thickness, myocyte hypertrophy, and disarray. To understand the early consequences of mutant sarcomere proteins, we have studied mice (designated alphaMHC(403/+)) bearing an Arg403Gln missense mutation in the alpha cardiac myosin heavy chain. We demonstrate that Ca(2+) is reduced in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of alphaMHC(403/+) mice, and levels of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-binding protein calsequestrin are diminished in advance of changes in cardiac histology or morphology. Further evidence for dysregulation of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) in these animals is seen in their decreased expression of the ryanodine receptor Ca(2+)-release channel and its associated membrane proteins and in an increase in ryanodine receptor phosphorylation. Early administration of the L-type Ca(2+) channel inhibitor diltiazem restores normal levels of these sarcoplasmic reticular proteins and prevents the development of pathology in alphaMHC(403/+) mice. We conclude that disruption of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) homeostasis is an important early event in the pathogenesis of this disorder and suggest that the use of Ca(2+) channel blockers in advance of established clinical disease could prevent hypertrophic cardiomyopathy caused by sarcomere protein gene mutations.
Collapse
MESH Headings
- Animals
- Calcium/metabolism
- Calcium Channel Blockers/pharmacology
- Calcium Channels, L-Type/drug effects
- Calcium Channels, L-Type/metabolism
- Calsequestrin/metabolism
- Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic, Familial/genetics
- Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic, Familial/metabolism
- Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic, Familial/pathology
- Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic, Familial/prevention & control
- Diltiazem/pharmacology
- Disease Models, Animal
- Humans
- Mice
- Mice, Mutant Strains
- Mutation, Missense
- Myocardium/pathology
- Myosin Heavy Chains/genetics
- Ventricular Myosins/genetics
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Semsarian
- Department of Genetics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
62
|
Mavroidis M, Capetanaki Y. Extensive induction of important mediators of fibrosis and dystrophic calcification in desmin-deficient cardiomyopathy. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY 2002; 160:943-52. [PMID: 11891192 PMCID: PMC1867168 DOI: 10.1016/s0002-9440(10)64916-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Mice lacking the intermediate filament protein desmin demonstrate abnormal mitochondria behavior, disruption of muscle architecture, and myocardial degeneration with extensive calcium deposits and fibrosis. These abnormalities are associated with cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, cardiac chamber dilation and eventually with heart failure. In an effort to elucidate the molecular mechanisms leading to the observed pathogenesis, we have analyzed gene expression changes in cardiac tissue using differential display polymerase chain reaction and cDNA atlas array methods. The most substantial changes were found in genes coding the small extracellular matrix proteins osteopontin and decorin that are dramatically induced in the desmin-null myocardium. We further analyzed their expression pattern both at the RNA and protein levels and we compared their spatial expression with the onset of calcification. Extensive osteopontin localization is observed by immunohistochemistry in the desmin-null myocardium in areas with massive myocyte death, as well as in hypercellular regions with variable degrees of calcification and fibrosis. Osteopontin is consistently co-localized with calcified deposits, which progressively are transformed to psammoma bodies surrounded by decorin, especially in the right ventricle. These data together with the observed up-regulation of transforming growth factor-beta1 and angiotensin-converting enzyme, could explain the extensive fibrosis and dystrophic calcification observed in the heart of desmin-null mice, potentially crucial events leading to heart failure.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Manolis Mavroidis
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
63
|
Abstract
Cardiomyopathies are disorders affecting heart muscle that usually result in inadequate pumping of the heart. They are the most common cause of heart failure and each year kill more than 10,000 people in the United States. In recent years, there have been breakthroughs in understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in this group of conditions, with knowledge of the genetic basis for cardiomyopathies perhaps seeing the largest advance, enabling clinicians to devise improved diagnostic strategies and preparing the stage for new therapies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J A Towbin
- Department of Pediatrics (Cardiology), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
64
|
Abstract
Cardiomyopathies are diseases of heart muscle that may result from a diverse array of conditions that damage the heart and other organs and impair myocardial function, including infection, ischemia, and toxins. However, they may also occur as primary diseases restricted to striated muscle. Over the past decade, the importance of inherited gene defects in the pathogenesis of primary cardiomyopathies has been recognized, with mutations in some 18 genes having been identified as causing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and/or dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Defining the role of these genes in cardiac function and the mechanisms by which mutations in these genes lead to hypertrophy, dilation, and contractile failure are major goals of ongoing research. Pathophysiological mechanisms that have been implicated in HCM and DCM include the following: defective force generation, due to mutations in sarcomeric protein genes; defective force transmission, due to mutations in cytoskeletal protein genes; myocardial energy deficits, due to mutations in ATP regulatory protein genes; and abnormal Ca2+ homeostasis, due to altered availability of Ca2+ and altered myofibrillar Ca2+ sensitivity. Improved understanding that will result from these studies should ultimately lead to new approaches for the diagnosis, prognostic stratification, and treatment of patients with heart failure.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Diane Fatkin
- Molecular Cardiology Unit, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
| | | |
Collapse
|
65
|
Marian AJ, Salek L, Lutucuta S. Molecular genetics and pathogenesis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Minerva Med 2001; 92:435-51. [PMID: 11740432 PMCID: PMC2910253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
Advances in molecular genetics of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) have led to identification of mutations in 11 genes coding for sarcomeric proteins. In addition, mutations in gene coding for the gamma subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase and triplet-repeat syndromes, as well as in mitochondrial DNA have been identified in patients with HCM. Mutations in genes coding for the beta-myosin heavy chain, myosin binding protein-C, and cardiac troponin T account for approximately 2/3 of all HCM cases. Accordingly, HCM is considered a disease of contractile sarcomeric proteins. Genotype-phenotype correlation studies show mutations and the genetic background affect the phenotypic expression of HCM. The final phenotype is the result of interactions between the causal genes, genetic background (modifier genes), and probably the environmental factors. The molecular pathogenesis of HCM is not completely understood. The initial defects caused by the mutant proteins are diverse. However, despite their diversity, they converge into common final pathway of impaired cardiac myocyte function. The latter leads to an increased myocyte stress and subsequent activation of stress-responsive signaling kinases and trophic factors, which activate the transcriptional machinery inducing cardiac hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis and myocyte disarray, the pathological characteristics of HCM. Studies in transgenic animal models show that cardiac hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis, and myocyte disarray are potentially reversible. These findings raise the possibility of reversal of evolving phenotype or prevention of phenotypes in human patients with HCM. Elucidation of the molecular genetic basis and the pathogenesis of HCM could provide the opportunity for genetic based diagnosis, risk stratification, and implementation of preventive and therapeutic measures in those who have inherited the causal mutations for HCM.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A J Marian
- Section of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
66
|
Shantz LM, Feith DJ, Pegg AE. Targeted overexpression of ornithine decarboxylase enhances beta-adrenergic agonist-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Biochem J 2001; 358:25-32. [PMID: 11485548 PMCID: PMC1222028 DOI: 10.1042/0264-6021:3580025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
These studies were designed to determine the consequences of constitutive overexpression of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in the heart. Induction of ODC is known to occur in response to agents that induce cardiac hypertrophy. However, it is not known whether high ODC levels are sufficient for the development of a hypertrophic phenotype. Transgenic mice were generated with cardiac-specific expression of a stable ODC protein using the alpha-myosin heavy-chain promoter. Founder lines with >1000-fold overexpression of ODC in the heart were established, resulting in a 50-fold overaccumulation of putrescine, 4-fold elevation in spermidine, a slight increase in spermine and accumulation of large amounts of cadaverine compared with littermate controls. Despite these significant alterations in polyamines, myocardial hypertrophy, as measured by ratio of heart to body weight, did not develop, although atrial natriuretic factor RNA was slightly elevated in transgenic ventricles. However, stimulation of beta-adrenergic signalling by isoproterenol resulted in severe hypertrophy and even death in ODC-overexpressing mice without further altering polyamine levels, compared with only a mild hypertrophy in littermates. When beta1-adrenergic stimulation was blocked by simultaneous treatment with isoproterenol and the beta1 antagonist atenolol, a significant, although reduced, hypertrophy was still present in the hearts of transgenic mice, suggesting that both beta1 and beta2 adrenergic receptors contribute to the hypertrophic phenotype. Therefore these mice provide a model to study the in vivo co-operativity between high ODC activity and activation of other pathways leading to hypertrophy in the heart.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- L M Shantz
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology H166, P.O. Box 850, The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
67
|
Abstract
The current status and challenges of small animal non-invasive imaging is briefly reviewed. The advantages of non-invasive studies on living animals versus post-mortem studies are evaluated. An argument is advanced that even in post-mortem situations, non-invasive imaging may play an important role in efficiently characterizing small animal phenotypes as well as pathology. Issues of data interpretation under anesthetized conditions in live animal studies are also reviewed. The five imaging technologies covered include CT, PET, ultrasound, MRI and optical imaging. The structural and physiological information content of these different modalities is reviewed along with the ability of these techniques to scale down for use in small mammals such as mice and rats. In general, it was found that most of these technologies scale favorably to the study of small mammals, generally providing more physiological information than when used on the larger human scale. This suggests that these types of small mammal imaging capabilities will play a very significant role in the full utilization of these important animal models in biomedical research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R S Balaban
- Laboratory Research Program, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
68
|
Abstract
Ultrasound imaging utilizes the interaction of sound waves with living tissue to produce an image of the tissue or, in Doppler-based modes, determine the velocity of a moving tissue, primarily blood. These dynamic, real time images can be analyzed to obtain quantitative structural and functional information from the target organ. This versatile, noninvasive diagnostic tool is widely used and accepted in human and veterinary medicine. Until recently its application as a research tool was limited primarily to larger, nonrodent species. Due to advances in ultrasound imaging technology, commercially available ultrasound systems now have the spatial and temporal resolution to obtain accurate images of rat and mouse hearts, kidneys, and other target tissues including tumor masses. As a result, ultrasound imaging is being used more frequently as a research tool to image rats and mice, and particularly to evaluate cardiac structure and function. The developing technology of ultrasound biomicroscopy has even greater spatial resolution and has been used to evaluate developing mouse embryos and guide site-specific injections into mouse embryos. Additional ultrasound imaging technologies, including contrast-enhanced imaging and intravascular ultrasound transducers adapted for transesophageal use, have been utilized in rats and mice. This paper provides an overview of basic ultrasound principles, equipment, and research applications. The use of noninvasive ultrasound imaging in research represents both a significant refinement as a potential replacement for more invasive techniques and a significant advancement in research techniques to study rats and mice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R W Coatney
- Department of Laboratory Animal Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA
| |
Collapse
|
69
|
Haug K, Kohlschmidt N, Dereser-Dennl M, Zielinski J, Merz E, Schäfer D. Familial fatal fetal cardiomyopathy with isolated myocardial calcifications: a new syndrome? AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS 2001; 101:255-8. [PMID: 11424141 DOI: 10.1002/1096-8628(20010701)101:3<255::aid-ajmg1383>3.0.co;2-d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
We describe three male sib fetuses with isolated myocardial calcifications resulting in intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) as early as the second trimester. No evidence for an underlying mitochondrial cytopathy, dystrophinopathy or myopathy was found. There were no signs of inflammation or a metabolic disorder, and the mother had no prenatal exposure of teratogenic drugs. Furthermore, no mutation in the Barth syndrome gene (G4.5) could be detected. Because isolated calcification of the heart and IUFD are not typical of any previously described inherited cardiomyopathy, it may represent a new familial fetal cardiomyopathy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- K Haug
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
70
|
Abstract
It is a basic tenet of molecular and clinical medicine that specific protein complements underlie cell and organ function. Since cellular and ultimately organ function depend upon the polypeptides that are present, it is not surprising that when function is altered changes in the protein pools occur. In the heart, numerous examples of contractile protein changes correlate with functional alterations, both during normal development and during the development of numerous pathologies. Similarly, different congenital heart diseases are characterized by certain shifts in the motor proteins. To understand these relationships, and to establish models in which the pathogenic processes can be studied longitudinally, it is necessary to direct the heart to stably synthesize, in the absence of other peliotropic changes, the candidate protein. Subsequently, one can determine if the protein's presence causes the effects directly or indirectly with the goal being to define potential therapeutic targets. By affecting the heart's protein complement in a defined manner, one has the means to establish both mechanism and the function of the different mutated proteins of protein isoforms. Gene targeting and transgenesis in the mouse provides a means to modify the mammalian genome and the cardiac motor protein complement. By directing expression of an engineered protein to the heart, one is now able to effectively remodel the cardiac protein profile and study the consequences of a single genetic manipulation at the molecular, biochemical, cytological and physiologic levels, both under normal and stress stimuli.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- F Dalloz
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Molecular Cardiovascular Biology, Children's Hospital Research Foundation, Cincinnati, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
71
|
McConnell BK, Fatkin D, Semsarian C, Jones KA, Georgakopoulos D, Maguire CT, Healey MJ, Mudd JO, Moskowitz IP, Conner DA, Giewat M, Wakimoto H, Berul CI, Schoen FJ, Kass DA, Seidman CE, Seidman JG. Comparison of two murine models of familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Circ Res 2001; 88:383-9. [PMID: 11230104 DOI: 10.1161/01.res.88.4.383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Although sarcomere protein gene mutations cause familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC), individuals bearing a mutant cardiac myosin binding protein C (MyBP-C) gene usually have a better prognosis than individuals bearing beta-cardiac myosin heavy chain (MHC) gene mutations. Heterozygous mice bearing a cardiac MHC missense mutation (alphaMHC(403/+) or a cardiac MyBP-C mutation (MyBP-C(t/+)) were constructed as murine FHC models using homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. We have compared cardiac structure and function of these mouse strains by several methods to further define mechanisms that determine the severity of FHC. Both strains demonstrated progressive left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy; however, by age 30 weeks, alphaMHC(403/+) mice demonstrated considerably more LV hypertrophy than MyBP-C(t/+) mice. In older heterozygous mice, hypertrophy continued to be more severe in the alphaMHC(403/+) mice than in the MyBP-C(t/+) mice. Consistent with this finding, hearts from 50-week-old alphaMHC(403/+) mice demonstrated increased expression of molecular markers of cardiac hypertrophy, but MyBP-C(t/+) hearts did not demonstrate expression of these molecular markers until the mice were >125 weeks old. Electrophysiological evaluation indicated that MyBP-C(t/+) mice are not as likely to have inducible ventricular tachycardia as alphaMHC(403/+) mice. In addition, cardiac function of alphaMHC(403/+) mice is significantly impaired before the development of LV hypertrophy, whereas cardiac function of MyBP-C(t/+) mice is not impaired even after the development of cardiac hypertrophy. Because these murine FHC models mimic their human counterparts, we propose that similar murine models will be useful for predicting the clinical consequences of other FHC-causing mutations. These data suggest that both electrophysiological and cardiac function studies may enable more definitive risk stratification in FHC patients.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- B K McConnell
- Cardiovascular Division and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
72
|
Seidman JG, Seidman C. The genetic basis for cardiomyopathy: from mutation identification to mechanistic paradigms. Cell 2001; 104:557-67. [PMID: 11239412 DOI: 10.1016/s0092-8674(01)00242-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 717] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- J G Seidman
- Department of Genetics and Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
73
|
Abstract
As the human and mouse genome projects approach their goals, initiatives in functional genomics are advancing. When the nucleotide sequences are available, identification of gene functions will assume even greater importance. Determination of gene products and their proximal biochemical functions provide a part of the picture, but determination of their functions in the context of the whole organism is the ultimate goal. The manipulated mouse genome has become accepted as a model for understanding the genetic basis of human conditions and diseases. Consequently, biomedical research institutions have seen significant increases in the use of mice since the early 1980s, and these increases are largely attributable to the use of genetically modified mice. The role of comparative pathology in research on mutant mouse models of disease is increasing in response to these trends. Evaluation and phenotypic characterization of mutant mice, via clinical and anatomic pathology techniques, will be an important component of functional genomics initiatives.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C Brayton
- Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX 77030, USA.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
74
|
Dalloz F, Osinska H, Robbins J. Manipulating the contractile apparatus: genetically defined animal models of cardiovascular disease. J Mol Cell Cardiol 2001; 33:9-25. [PMID: 11133219 DOI: 10.1006/jmcc.2000.1289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Within the last 10 years via gene targeting and transgenesis, numerous models of cardiovascular disease have been established and used to determine if a protein's presence or absence causes cardiovascular disease. By affecting the heart's protein complement in a defined manner, the function of the different mutated proteins or protein isoforms present in the contractile apparatus can be determined and pathogenic mechanism(s) explored. We can now remodel the cardiac protein profile and effect replacement of even the most abundant contractile proteins. Precise genetic manipulation allows exploration of the structure-function relationships which underlie cardiac function, and the consequences of defined mutations at the molecular, biochemical, cytological and physiologic levels can be determined.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- F Dalloz
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Research Foundation, Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
75
|
Abstract
Gain- and loss-of-function strategies using transgenic over-expression and targeted ablation of candidate genes in in the mouse have provided important mechanistic insights into cardiovascular development, physiology and disease. An essential, but challenging step is the functional analysis of the resultant phenotype. The methods described in this review permit the study of integrated cardiovascular physiology in the adult mouse. A critical review of the available in vivo methods that assay cardiac volume (echocardiography, conductance volumetry, sonomicrometry, magnetic resonance imaging) pressure (micromanometers), flow (Doppler echocardiography), and bioelectricity (electrophysiologic studies) are presented.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- B D Hoit
- Department of Medicine, University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
76
|
Ho CY, Lever HM, DeSanctis R, Farver CF, Seidman JG, Seidman CE. Homozygous mutation in cardiac troponin T: implications for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Circulation 2000; 102:1950-5. [PMID: 11034944 DOI: 10.1161/01.cir.102.16.1950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mutations in the gene that encode cardiac troponin T (cTnT) account for approximately 15% of cases of familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). These mutations are associated with a particularly severe form of HCM characterized by a high incidence of sudden death and a poor overall prognosis, despite subclinical or mild left ventricular hypertrophy. METHODS AND RESULTS We evaluated a family with HCM and multiple occurrences of sudden death in children. DNA samples were isolated from peripheral blood or paraffin-embedded tissue, and all protein-encoding exons of the cTnT gene were sequenced. A mutation was identified in exon 11 and is predicted to substitute a phenylalanine-for-serine mutation at residue 179 (Ser(179)Phe) in cTnT. Both parents and 3 of 4 surviving and clinically unaffected children were heterozygous for this mutation; another clinically unaffected child did not carry the mutation. Genetic analysis of DNA from a child who died suddenly at age 17 years demonstrated he was homozygous for this mutation. A review of his echocardiogram revealed profound left and right ventricular hypertrophy. CONCLUSIONS An homozygous Ser(179)Phe mutation in cTnT causes a severe form of HCM characterized by striking morphological abnormalities and juvenile lethality. In contrast, the natural history of the heterozygous mutation is benign. These studies emphasize the relevance of genetic diagnosis in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and provide a new perspective on the clinical consequences of troponin T mutations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C Y Ho
- Cardiovascular Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
77
|
Phoon CK, Aristizabal O, Turnbull DH. 40 MHz Doppler characterization of umbilical and dorsal aortic blood flow in the early mouse embryo. ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE & BIOLOGY 2000; 26:1275-1283. [PMID: 11120365 DOI: 10.1016/s0301-5629(00)00278-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Physiological study of the developing mouse circulation has lagged behind advances in molecular cardiology. Using an innovative high-frequency Doppler system, we noninvasively characterized circulatory hemodynamics in early mouse embryos. We used image-guided 43 MHz pulsed-wave (PW) Doppler ultrasound to study the umbilical artery and vein, or dorsal aorta in 109 embryos. Studies were conducted on embryonic days (E) 9.5-14.5. Heart rate, peak blood flow velocities, and velocity time integrals in all vessels increased from E9.5-14.5, indicating increasing stroke volume and cardiac output. Heart rate, ranging from 192 bpm (E9.5) to 261 bpm (E14.5), was higher than previously reported. Placental impedance, assessed by the time delay between the peaks of the umbilical arterial and venous waveforms and by venous pulsatility, decreased with gestation. Acceleration time, a load-independent Doppler index of cardiac contractility, remained constant but seemed sensitive to heart rate. High-frequency PW Doppler is a powerful tool for the quantitative, noninvasive investigation of early mouse circulatory development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C K Phoon
- Pediatric Cardiology Program, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
78
|
Abstract
An underpinning of basic physiology and clinical medicine is that specific protein complements underlie cell and organ function. In the heart, contractile protein changes correlating with functional alterations occur during both normal development and the development of numerous pathologies. What has been lacking for the majority of these observations is an extension of correlation to causative proof. More specifically, different congenital heart diseases are characterized by shifts in the motor proteins, and the genetic etiologies of a number of different dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies have been established as residing at loci encoding the contractile proteins. To establish cause, or to understand development of the pathophysiology over an animal's life span, it is necessary to direct the heart to synthesize, in the absence of other pleiotropic changes, the candidate protein. Subsequently one can determine whether or how the protein's presence causes the effects either directly or indirectly. By affecting the heart's protein complement in a defined manner, the potential to establish the function of different proteins and protein isoforms exists. Transgenesis provides a means of stably modifying the mammalian genome. By directing expression of engineered proteins to the heart, cardiac contractile protein profiles can be effectively remodeled and the resultant animal used to study the consequences of a single, genetic manipulation at the molecular, biochemical, cytological, and physiological levels.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J Robbins
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Research Foundation, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3039, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
79
|
Richard P, Charron P, Leclercq C, Ledeuil C, Carrier L, Dubourg O, Desnos M, Bouhour JB, Schwartz K, Daubert JC, Komajda M, Hainque B. Homozygotes for a R869G mutation in the beta -myosin heavy chain gene have a severe form of familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. J Mol Cell Cardiol 2000; 32:1575-83. [PMID: 10900182 DOI: 10.1006/jmcc.2000.1193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (FHC) is an autosomal dominant disease characterised by ventricular hypertrophy, with predominant involvement of the interventricular septum. It is a monogenic disease with a high level of genetic heterogeneity (nine genes and more than 110 mutations reported so far). We describe a family with a new R869G mutation in the beta -myosin heavy chain gene (MYH7). This mutation was found in the heterozygous status in both parents and in the homozygous status in the two children. A haplotype analysis on the MYH7 locus with microsatellite markers showed that the same haplotype is transmitted within the family, suggesting a founder effect. Clinically, the father was asymptomatic with mild left ventricular hypertrophy on echocardiography. The mother had a mild form of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and remained asymptomatic until 60 years old when an atrial fibrillation occurred. For the two children, clinical diagnosis was performed at 12 and 8 years and atrial fibrillation occurred at 17 years. For both children, the evolution was characterized by left ventricle (LV) systolic dysfunction and a severe dilatation of the left atrium before 40 years of age. CONCLUSIONS In this family, a new R869G mutation in the MYH7 gene was found. Interestingly, a mutation was found at the homozygous status for the first time in FHC. This finding suggests that this particular mutation is compatible with life, but for homozygous subjects, age at onset of symptoms was earlier and the disease much more severe than in the heterozygous subjects, suggesting a gene-dose effect.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- P Richard
- Service de Biochimie B, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
80
|
Abstract
Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC) is an autosomal-dominant disease that is both clinically and genetically heterogeneous. Disease-causing mutations have been found in eight genes encoding structural components of the thick and thin filament systems of the cardiac myocyte; it has therefore been coined a disease of the sarcomere. How each mutation leads to the diverse clinical phenotypes is still obscure, and research in this area is very active. Many approaches have been used to characterize the pathogenesis of the disease. Biochemical characterization of mutant alleles expressed in vitro has shed some insight into the functional deficits of several mutant alleles of myosin heavy chain, troponin-T, and alpha-tropomyosin. Transgenic animal models for FHC have been created to gain further insight into the pathogenesis of this disease. Most of these models have been made in mice; however, recently a transgenic rabbit model has been created. In addition, there are several natural-occurring forms of FHC in animals that will be interesting to explore. The discovery of additional responsible genes and the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis through the use of animal models promise improved and early diagnosis and the potential for developing specific, mutation-, or mechanism-based therapeutics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A Maass
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
81
|
Abstract
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a serious and often tragic disorder, is characterized by hypertrophy of the interventricular septum and left ventricular wall, hypercontractile systolic function with diastolic dysfunction, and in some cases, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. On histopathologic examination, myofiber disarray is common. The genes for familial cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are known to encode members of the sarcomere and to date nine genes have been identified (beta-myosin heavy chain, alpha-tropomyosin, cardiac troponin T, troponin I, myosin binding protein-C, regulatory myosin light chain, essential myosin light chain, cardiac actin, and titin) for this genetically and clinically heterogeneous disease. In this review the genetic basis of HCM is discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J A Towbin
- Baylor College of Medicine, Pediatric Cardiology, 1 Baylor Plaza, Room 333E, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
82
|
Farza H, Watkins H. Animal models of familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. MOLECULAR MEDICINE TODAY 1999; 5:544-5. [PMID: 10562721 DOI: 10.1016/s1357-4310(99)01603-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- H Farza
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Roosevelt Drive, Headington, Oxford, UK OX3 7BN.
| | | |
Collapse
|
83
|
McConnell BK, Jones KA, Fatkin D, Arroyo LH, Lee RT, Aristizabal O, Turnbull DH, Georgakopoulos D, Kass D, Bond M, Niimura H, Schoen FJ, Conner D, Fischman DA, Seidman CE, Seidman JG, Fischman DH. Dilated cardiomyopathy in homozygous myosin-binding protein-C mutant mice. J Clin Invest 1999; 104:1235-44. [PMID: 10545522 PMCID: PMC409819 DOI: 10.1172/jci7377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 180] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
To elucidate the role of cardiac myosin-binding protein-C (MyBP-C) in myocardial structure and function, we have produced mice expressing altered forms of this sarcomere protein. The engineered mutations encode truncated forms of MyBP-C in which the cardiac myosin heavy chain-binding and titin-binding domain has been replaced with novel amino acid residues. Analogous heterozygous defects in humans cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Mice that are homozygous for the mutated MyBP-C alleles express less than 10% of truncated protein in M-bands of otherwise normal sarcomeres. Homozygous mice bearing mutated MyBP-C alleles are viable but exhibit neonatal onset of a progressive dilated cardiomyopathy with prominent histopathology of myocyte hypertrophy, myofibrillar disarray, fibrosis, and dystrophic calcification. Echocardiography of homozygous mutant mice showed left ventricular dilation and reduced contractile function at birth; myocardial hypertrophy increased as the animals matured. Left-ventricular pressure-volume analyses in adult homozygous mutant mice demonstrated depressed systolic contractility with diastolic dysfunction. These data revise our understanding of the role that MyBP-C plays in myofibrillogenesis during cardiac development and indicate the importance of this protein for long-term sarcomere function and normal cardiac morphology. We also propose that mice bearing homozygous familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-causing mutations may provide useful tools for predicting the severity of disease that these mutations will cause in humans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- B K McConnell
- Department of Genetics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|