The SOCE Machinery: An Unbalanced Knowledge between Left and Right Ventricular Pathophysiology

Orai1/STIMs modulators in pulmonary vascular diseases

Calcium (Ca2+) is a secondary messenger that regulates various cellular processes. However, Ca2+ mishandling could lead to pathological conditions. Orai1 is a Ca2+channel contributing to the store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) and plays a critical role in Ca2+ homeostasis in several cell types. Dysregulation of Orai1 contributed to severe combined immune deficiency syndrome, some cancers, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and other cardiorespiratory diseases. During its activation process, Orai1 is mainly regulated by stromal interacting molecule (STIM) proteins, especially STIM1; however, many other regulatory partners have also been recently described. Increasing knowledge about these regulatory partners provides a better view of the downstream signalling pathways of SOCE and offers an excellent opportunity to decipher Orai1 dysregulation in these diseases. These proteins participate in other cellular functions, making them attractive therapeutic targets. This review mainly focuses on Orai1 regulatory partners in the physiological and pathological conditions of the pulmonary circulation and inflammation.

Retinoic acid modulation guides human-induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation towards left or right ventricle-like cardiomyocytes

BACKGROUND

Cardiomyocytes (CMs) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) by traditional methods are a mix of atrial and ventricular CMs and many other non-cardiomyocyte cells. Retinoic acid (RA) plays an important role in regulation of the spatiotemporal development of the embryonic heart.

METHODS

CMs were derived from hiPSC (hi-PCS-CM) using different concentrations of RA (Control without RA, LRA with 0.05μM and HRA with 0.1 μM) between day 3-6 of the differentiation process. Engineered heart tissues (EHTs) were generated by assembling hiPSC-CM at high cell density in a low collagen hydrogel.

RESULTS

In the HRA group, hiPSC-CMs exhibited highest expression of contractile proteins MYH6, MYH7 and cTnT. The expression of TBX5, NKX2.5 and CORIN, which are marker genes for left ventricular CMs, was also the highest in the HRA group. In terms of EHT, the HRA group displayed the highest contraction force, the lowest beating frequency, and the highest sensitivity to hypoxia and isoprenaline, which means it was functionally more similar to the left ventricle. RNAsequencing revealed that the heightened contractility of EHT within the HRA group can be attributed to the promotion of augmented extracellular matrix strength by RA.

CONCLUSION

By interfering with the differentiation process of hiPSC with a specific concentration of RA at a specific time, we were able to successfully induce CMs and EHTs with a phenotype similar to that of the left ventricle or right ventricle.

STIM2 variants regulate Orai1/TRPC1/TRPC4-mediated store-operated Ca2+ entry and mitochondrial Ca2+ homeostasis in cardiomyocytes

The stromal interaction molecules (STIMs) are the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ sensors that trigger store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) in a variety of cell types. While STIM1 isoform has been the focus of the research in cardiac pathophysiology, the function of the homolog STIM2 remains unknown. Using Ca2+ imaging and patch-clamp techniques, we showed that knockdown (KD) of STIM2 by siRNAs increased SOCE and the ISOC current in neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (NRVMs). Within this cardiomyocyte model, we identified the transcript expression of Stim2.1 and Stim2.2 splice variants, with predominance for Stim2.2. Using conventional and super-resolution confocal microscopy (STED), we found that exogenous STIM2.1 and STIM2.2 formed pre-clusters with a reticular organization at rest. Following SR Ca2+ store depletion, some STIM2.1 and STIM2.2 clusters were translocated to SR-plasma membrane (PM) junctions and co-localized with Orai1. The overexpression strategy revealed that STIM2.1 suppressed Orai1-mediated SOCE and the ISOC current while STIM2.2 enhanced SOCE. STIM2.2-enhanced SOCE was also dependent on TRPC1 and TRPC4. Even if STIM2 KD or splice variants overexpression did not affect cytosolic Ca2+ cycling, we observed, using Rhod-2/AM Ca2+ imaging, that Orai1 inhibition or STIM2.1 overexpression abolished the mitochondrial Ca2+ (mCa2+) uptake, as opposed to STIM2 KD. We also found that STIM2 was present in the mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes (MAMs) by interacting with the inositol trisphosphate receptors (IP3Rs), voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC), mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter (MCU), and mitofusin-2 (MNF2). Our results suggested that, in NRVMs, STIM2.1 constitutes the predominant functional variant that negatively regulates Orai1-generated SOCE. It participates in the control of mCa2+ uptake capacity possibly via the STIM2-IP3Rs-VDAC-MCU and MNF2 complex.

Pulmonary Hypertension-Associated Right Ventricular Cardiomyocyte Remodelling Reduces Treprostinil Function

(1) Pulmonary hypertension (PH)-associated right ventricular (RV) failure is linked to a reduction in pulmonary vasodilators. Treprostinil has shown effectiveness in PAH patients with cardiac decompensation, hinting at potential cardiac benefits. We investigated treprostinil's synergy with isoprenaline in RV and LV cardiomyocytes. We hypothesised that disease-related RV structural changes in cardiomyocytes would reduce contractile responses and cAMP/PKA signalling activity. (2) We induced PH in male Sprague Dawley rats using monocrotaline and isolated their ventricular cardiomyocytes. The effect of in vitro treprostinil and isoprenaline stimulation on contraction was assessed. FRET microscopy was used to study PKA activity associated with treprostinil stimulation in AKAR3-NES FRET-based biosensor-expressing cells. (3) RV cells exhibited maladaptive remodelling with hypertrophy, impaired contractility, and calcium transients compared to control and LV cardiomyocytes. Combining treprostinil and isoprenaline failed to enhance inotropy in PH RV cardiomyocytes. PH RV cardiomyocytes displayed an aberrant contractile behaviour, which the combination treatment could not rectify. Finally, we observed decreased PKA activity in treprostinil-treated PH RV cardiomyocytes. (4) PH-associated RV cardiomyocyte remodelling reduced treprostinil sensitivity, inotropic support, and impaired relaxation. Overall, this study highlights the complexity of RV dysfunction in advanced PH and suggests the need for alternative therapeutic strategies.

Store-Operated Ca2+ Entry as a Putative Target of Flecainide for the Treatment of Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a genetic disorder that may lead patients to sudden cell death through the occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias. ACM is characterised by the progressive substitution of cardiomyocytes with fibrofatty scar tissue that predisposes the heart to life-threatening arrhythmic events. Cardiac mesenchymal stromal cells (C-MSCs) contribute to the ACM by differentiating into fibroblasts and adipocytes, thereby supporting aberrant remodelling of the cardiac structure. Flecainide is an Ic antiarrhythmic drug that can be administered in combination with β-adrenergic blockers to treat ACM due to its ability to target both Nav1.5 and type 2 ryanodine receptors (RyR2). However, a recent study showed that flecainide may also prevent fibro-adipogenic differentiation by inhibiting store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) and thereby suppressing spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations in C-MSCs isolated from human ACM patients (ACM C-hMSCs). Herein, we briefly survey ACM pathogenesis and therapies and then recapitulate the main molecular mechanisms targeted by flecainide to mitigate arrhythmic events, including Nav1.5 and RyR2. Subsequently, we describe the role of spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations in determining MSC fate. Next, we discuss recent work showing that spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations in ACM C-hMSCs are accelerated to stimulate their fibro-adipogenic differentiation. Finally, we describe the evidence that flecainide suppresses spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations and fibro-adipogenic differentiation in ACM C-hMSCs by inhibiting constitutive SOCE.

Contribution of transient receptor potential canonical channels in human and experimental pulmonary arterial hypertension

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is due to progressive distal pulmonary artery (PA) obstruction, leading to right ventricular hypertrophy and failure. Exacerbated store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) contributes to PAH pathogenesis, mediating human PA smooth muscle cell (hPASMC) abnormalities. The transient receptor potential canonical channels (TRPC family) are Ca2+-permeable channels contributing to SOCE in different cell types, including PASMCs. However, the properties, signaling pathways, and contribution to Ca2+ signaling of each TRPC isoform are unclear in human PAH. We studied in vitro the impact of TRPC knockdown on control and PAH-hPASMCs function. In vivo, we analyzed the consequences of pharmacological TRPC inhibition using the experimental model of pulmonary hypertension (PH) induced by monocrotaline (MCT) exposure. Compared with control-hPASMCs cells, in PAH-hPASMCs, we found a decreased TRPC4 expression, overexpression of TRPC3 and TRPC6, and unchanged TRPC1 expression. Using the siRNA strategy, we found that the knockdown of TRPC1-C3-C4-C6 reduced the SOCE and the proliferation rate of PAH-hPASMCs. Only TRPC1 knockdown decreased the migration capacity of PAH-hPASMCs. After PAH-hPASMCs exposure to the apoptosis inducer staurosporine, TRPC1-C3-C4-C6 knockdown increased the percentage of apoptotic cells, suggesting that these channels promote apoptosis resistance. Only TRPC3 function contributed to exacerbated calcineurin activity. In the MCT-PH rat model, only TRPC3 protein expression was increased in lungs compared with control rats, and in vivo "curative" administration of a TRPC3 inhibitor attenuated PH development in rats. These results suggest that TRPC channels contribute to PAH-hPASMCs dysfunctions, including SOCE, proliferation, migration, and apoptosis resistance, and could be considered as therapeutic targets in PAH.NEW & NOTEWORTHY TRPC3 is increased in human and experimental pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). In PAH pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells, TRPC3 participates in the aberrant store-operated Ca2+ entry contributing to their pathological cell phenotypes (exacerbated proliferation, enhanced migration, apoptosis resistance, and vasoconstriction). Pharmacological in vivo inhibition of TRPC3 reduces the development of experimental PAH. Even if other TRPC acts on PAH development, our results prove that TRPC3 inhibition could be considered as an innovative treatment for PAH.