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Deng J, Wei RQ, Zhang WM, Shi CY, Yang R, Jin M, Piao C. Crocin's role in modulating MMP2/TIMP1 and mitigating hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension in mice. Sci Rep 2024; 14:12716. [PMID: 38830933 PMCID: PMC11148111 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62900-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024] Open
Abstract
To explore the molecular pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and identify potential therapeutic targets, we performed transcriptome sequencing of lung tissue from mice with hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. Our Gene Ontology analysis revealed that "extracellular matrix organization" ranked high in the biological process category, and matrix metallopeptidases (MMPs) and other proteases also played important roles in it. Moreover, compared with those in the normoxia group, we confirmed that MMPs expression was upregulated in the hypoxia group, while the hub gene Timp1 was downregulated. Crocin, a natural MMP inhibitor, was found to reduce inflammation, decrease MMPs levels, increase Timp1 expression levels, and attenuate hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension in mice. In addition, analysis of the cell distribution of MMPs and Timp1 in the human lung cell atlas using single-cell RNAseq datasets revealed that MMPs and Timp1 are mainly expressed in a population of fibroblasts. Moreover, in vitro experiments revealed that crocin significantly inhibited myofibroblast proliferation, migration, and extracellular matrix deposition. Furthermore, we demonstrated that crocin inhibited TGF-β1-induced fibroblast activation and regulated the pulmonary arterial fibroblast MMP2/TIMP1 balance by inhibiting the TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling pathway. In summary, our results indicate that crocin attenuates hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension in mice by inhibiting TGF-β1-induced myofibroblast activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Deng
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Yanbian University, Yanji, 133000, China
| | - Rui-Qi Wei
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to the Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100020, China
| | - Wen-Mei Zhang
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Anzhen Hospital Affiliated to the Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Chang-Yu Shi
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to the Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100020, China
| | - Rui Yang
- Beijing Institute of Heart Lung and Blood Vessel Diseases, Beijing Anzhen Hospital Affiliated to the Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Ming Jin
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Yanbian University, Yanji, 133000, China.
| | - Chunmei Piao
- Beijing Institute of Heart Lung and Blood Vessel Diseases, Beijing Anzhen Hospital Affiliated to the Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100029, China.
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Gupta S, Li L. The role of Thymosin β4 in angiotensin II-induced cardiomyocytes growth. Expert Opin Biol Ther 2019; 18:105-110. [PMID: 30063846 DOI: 10.1080/14712598.2018.1494718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Thymosin beta-4 (Tβ4) is an actin sequestering protein and is furthermore involved in diverse biological processes including cell proliferation, differentiation, wound healing, stem- or progenitor cell differentiation, and modulates inflammatory mediators. Tβ4 also attenuates fibrosis. However, the role of Tβ4 in cardiomyocytes hypertrophy is unknown. AREAS COVERED In this review, we will discuss the role of Tβ4 in cardiac remodeling that specifically includes cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis only. Our review will further cover a new signaling pathway, the wingless and integrated-1 (Wnt) pathway in cardiac remodeling. In rat neonatal and adult cardiomyocytes stimulated with angiotensin II (Ang II), we showed that Tβ4 has the ability to reduce cell sizes, attenuate hypertrophy marker genes expression, along with a panel of WNT-associated gene expressions induced by Ang II. Selected target gene WNT1-inducible-signaling pathway protein 1 (WISP-1) was identified by Tβ4. Data further confirmed that WISP-1 overexpression promoted cardiomyocytes growth and was reversed by Tβ4 pretreatment. EXPERT OPINION Our data suggested that Tβ4 protects cardiomyocytes from hypertrophic response by targeting WISP-1. The new role of Tβ4 in cardiac hypertrophy advances our understanding, and the mechanism of action of Tβ4 may provide a solid foundation for the treatment of cardiac disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sudhiranjan Gupta
- a Department of Medical Physiology , Texas A&M University; Central Texas Veterans Health Care System , Temple , TX , USA
| | - Li Li
- a Department of Medical Physiology , Texas A&M University; Central Texas Veterans Health Care System , Temple , TX , USA
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Li L, Guleria RS, Thakur S, Zhang CL, Pan J, Baker KM, Gupta S. Thymosin β4 Prevents Angiotensin II-Induced Cardiomyocyte Growth by Regulating Wnt/WISP Signaling. J Cell Physiol 2016; 231:1737-44. [PMID: 26627308 DOI: 10.1002/jcp.25275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2015] [Accepted: 12/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Thymosin beta-4 (Tβ4) is a ubiquitous protein with many properties relating to cell proliferation and differentiation that promotes wound healing and modulates inflammatory mediators. However, the role of Tβ4 in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy is currently unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the cardio-protective effect of Tβ4 in angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced cardiomyocyte growth. Neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (NRVM) were pretreated with Tβ4 followed by Ang II stimulation. Cell size, hypertrophy marker gene expression and Wnt signaling components, β-catenin, and Wnt-induced secreted protein-1 (WISP-1) were evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR, Western blotting and fluorescent microscopy. Pre-treatment of Tβ4 resulted in reduction of cell size, hypertrophy marker genes and Wnt-associated gene expression, and protein levels; induced by Ang II in cardiomyocyte. WISP-1 was overexpressed in NRVM and, the effect of Tβ4 in Ang II-induced cardiomyocyte growth was evaluated. WISP-1 overexpression promoted cardiomyocytes growth and was reversed by pretreatment with Tβ4. This is the first report which demonstrates that Tβ4 targets Wnt/WISP-1 to protect Ang II-induced cardiomyocyte growth. J. Cell. Physiol. 231: 1737-1744, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Li
- Division of Molecular Cardiology, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Temple, Texas.,Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, Texas.,Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Temple, Texas.,Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China
| | - Rakeshwar S Guleria
- Division of Molecular Cardiology, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Temple, Texas.,Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, Texas.,Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Temple, Texas
| | - Suresh Thakur
- Division of Molecular Cardiology, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Temple, Texas.,Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, Texas.,Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Temple, Texas
| | - Cheng-Lin Zhang
- Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Pan
- Division of Molecular Cardiology, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Temple, Texas.,Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, Texas.,Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Temple, Texas
| | - Kenneth M Baker
- Division of Molecular Cardiology, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Temple, Texas.,Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, Texas.,Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Temple, Texas
| | - Sudhiranjan Gupta
- Division of Molecular Cardiology, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Temple, Texas.,Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, Texas.,Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Temple, Texas
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Bergmann MW. WNT signaling in adult cardiac hypertrophy and remodeling: lessons learned from cardiac development. Circ Res 2010; 107:1198-208. [PMID: 21071717 DOI: 10.1161/circresaha.110.223768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 149] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
On pathological stress, the heart reactivates several signaling pathways that traditionally were thought to be operational only in the developing heart. One of these pathways is the WNT signaling pathway. WNT controls heart development but is also modulated during adult heart remodeling. This review summarizes the currently available data regarding WNT signaling during left ventricular (LV) remodeling. Upstream, soluble frizzled-related proteins (sFRPs) block WNT-dependent activation of the canonical WNT pathway. By inhibition of WNT activation, these factors also reduce β-catenin-dependent transcription by altering the ratio of cytoplasmic/nuclear β-catenin. In experimental settings, sFRPs injected into the heart attenuated LV remodeling. sFRPs are secreted from autologous bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells. Disheveled is a signaling intermediate of both the canonical and noncanonical WNT pathway. Similarly to the effect of sFRP, depletion of a disheveled isoform attenuated LV remodeling. In contrast, disheveled activation led to progressive dilated cardiomyopathy. Inhibition of nuclear β-catenin signaling downstream of the canonical WNT pathway significantly reduced postinfarct mortality and functional decline of LV function following chronic left anterior descending coronary artery ligation. WNT signaling also affects mobilization and homing of bone marrow-derived vasculogenic progenitor cells. Finally, heart-specific WNT/β-catenin interaction partners have been identified that will possibly allow targeting this pathway in a tissue-specific manner. In summary, the WNT pathway plays a pivotal role in adult cardiac remodeling and may be suitable for therapeutic interventions. Currently, several molecular and cellular mechanisms whereby WNT inhibition attenuates LV remodeling are proposed. Reactivation of the developmental program to restore functional LV myocardium from resident precursor cells may significantly contribute to this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin W Bergmann
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Charité Campus Buch & Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany.
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