Cardioprotective Potential of Exogenous Ubiquitin

Macrophages in the Inflammatory Phase following Myocardial Infarction: Role of Exogenous Ubiquitin

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. One of the most common implications of CVD is myocardial infarction (MI). Following MI, the repair of the infarcted heart occurs through three distinct, yet overlapping phases of inflammation, proliferation, and maturation. Macrophages are essential to the resolution of the inflammatory phase due to their role in phagocytosis and efferocytosis. However, excessive and long-term macrophage accumulation at the area of injury and dysregulated function can induce adverse cardiac remodeling post-MI. Ubiquitin (UB) is a highly evolutionarily conserved small protein and is a normal constituent of plasma. Levels of UB are increased in the plasma during a variety of pathological conditions, including ischemic heart disease. Treatment of mice with UB associates with decreased inflammatory response and improved heart function following ischemia/reperfusion injury. This review summarizes the role of macrophages in the infarct healing process of the heart post-MI, and discusses the role of exogenous UB in myocardial remodeling post-MI and in the modulation of macrophage phenotype and function.

Post-ischemic cardioprotective potential of exogenous ubiquitin in myocardial remodeling late after ischemia/reperfusion injury

AIMS

Pretreatment with ubiquitin (UB) associates with preservation of heart function 3 days post-ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. This study investigated the cardioprotective potential of exogenous UB late after myocardial I/R injury. To enhance the clinical relevance, UB treatment was started at the time of reperfusion and continued for 28 days post-I/R.

MAIN METHODS

Mice underwent ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery for 45 min. At the time of reperfusion, mice were treated with UB or saline which was continued until 28 days post-I/R. Heart function was measured at 3, 7, 14 and 28 days post-I/R using echocardiography. Biochemical parameters of the heart and serum cytokines/chemokines levels were measured 28 days post-I/R.

KEY FINDINGS

I/R decreased heart function and induced LV dilation at all time points post-I/R. However, I/R + UB exhibited improved heart function throughout the observation period, while LV dilation was lower in I/R + UB group at 3, 14 and 28 days post-I/R. I/R-mediated increase in myocardial fibrosis, hypertrophy and apoptosis were significantly lower in I/R + UB vs. I/R. Collagen-1α1 and MMP-2 expression was lower, while MMP-9 and TIMP-2 expression was higher in I/R + UB vs. I/R. MYH-7B (hypertrophy marker) expression was lower in I/R + UB vs. I/R. GSK3β activation was lower (vs. Sham), while activation of ERK1/2 (vs. I/R) and AKT (vs. Sham) was higher in I/R + UB. Serum levels of IL-6, G-CSF and IL-2 were lower in I/R + UB vs. I/R.

SIGNIFICANCE

Post-ischemic UB treatment improves heart function, and associates with decreased myocardial fibrosis, apoptosis, hypertrophy and serum cytokine/chemokine levels.

Construction of the coexpression network involved in the pathogenesis of thyroid eye disease via bioinformatics analysis

Background

Thyroid eye disease (TED) is the most common orbital pathology that occurs in up to 50% of patients with Graves’ disease. Herein, we aimed at discovering the possible hub genes and pathways involved in TED based on bioinformatical approaches.

Results

The GSE105149 and GSE58331 datasets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and merged for identifying TED-associated modules by weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) and local maximal quasi-clique merger (lmQCM) analysis. EdgeR was run to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Transcription factor (TF), microRNA (miR) and drug prediction analyses were performed using ToppGene suite. Function enrichment analysis was used to investigate the biological function of genes. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis was performed based on the intersection between the list of genes obtained by WGCNA, lmQCM and DEGs, and hub genes were identified using the MCODE plugin. Based on the overlap of 497 genes retrieved from the different approaches, a robust TED coexpression network was constructed and 11 genes (ATP6V1A, PTGES3, PSMD12, PSMA4, METAP2, DNAJA1, PSMA1, UBQLN1, CCT2, VBP1 and NAA50) were identified as hub genes. Key TFs regulating genes in the TED-associated coexpression network, including NFRKB, ZNF711, ZNF407 and MORC2, and miRs including hsa-miR-144, hsa-miR-3662, hsa-miR-12136 and hsa-miR-3646, were identified. Genes in the coexpression network were enriched in the biological processes including proteasomal protein catabolic process and proteasome-mediated ubiquitin-dependent protein catabolic process and the pathways of endocytosis and ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. Drugs perturbing genes in the coexpression network were also predicted and included enzyme inhibitors, chlorodiphenyl and finasteride.

Conclusions

For the first time, TED-associated coexpression network was constructed and key genes and their functions, as well as TFs, miRs and drugs, were predicted. The results of the present work may be relevant in the treatment and diagnosis of TED and may boost molecular studies regarding TED.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40246-022-00412-0.