Extracellular matrix, mechanotransduction and structural hierarchies in heart tissue engineering

The spatial and temporal scales of cardiac organogenesis and pathogenesis make engineering of artificial heart tissue a daunting challenge. The temporal scales range from nanosecond conformational changes responsible for ion channel opening to fibrillation which occurs over seconds and can lead to death. Spatial scales range from nanometre pore sizes in membrane channels and gap junctions to the metre length scale of the whole cardiovascular system in a living patient. Synchrony over these scales requires a hierarchy of control mechanisms that are governed by a single common principle: integration of structure and function. To ensure that the function of ion channels and contraction of muscle cells lead to changes in heart chamber volume, an elegant choreography of metabolic, electrical and mechanical events are executed by protein networks composed of extracellular matrix, transmembrane integrin receptors and cytoskeleton which are functionally connected across all size scales. These structural control networks are mechanoresponsive, and they process mechanical and chemical signals in a massively parallel fashion, while also serving as a bidirectional circuit for information flow. This review explores how these hierarchical structural networks regulate the form and function of living cells and tissues, as well as how microfabrication techniques can be used to probe this structural control mechanism that maintains metabolic supply, electrical activation and mechanical pumping of heart muscle. Through this process, we delineate various design principles that may be useful for engineering artificial heart tissue in the future

RIPK1 Expression Associates with Inflammation in Early Atherosclerosis in Humans and Can be Therapeutically Silenced to Reduce NF-κB Activation and Atherogenesis in Mice

Background: Chronic activation of the innate immune system drives inflammation and contributes directly to atherosclerosis. Previously, we showed that macrophages in the atherogenic plaque undergo RIPK3-MLKL-dependent programmed necroptosis in response to sterile ligands such as oxidized LDL and damage-associated patterns (DAMPs) and necroptosis is active in advanced atherosclerotic plaques. Upstream of the RIPK3-MLKL necroptotic machinery lies RIPK1, which acts as a master switch that controls whether the cell undergoes NFκB-dependent inflammation, caspase-dependent apoptosis or necroptosis in response to extracellular stimuli. We therefore set out to investigate the role of RIPK1 in the development of atherosclerosis, which is largely driven by NFκB-dependent inflammation at early stages. We hypothesize that, unlike RIPK3 and MLKL, RIPK1 primarily drives NFκB-dependent inflammation in early atherogenic lesions and knocking down RIPK1 will reduce inflammatory cell activation and protect against the progression of atherosclerosis. Methods: We examined expression of RIPK1 protein and mRNA in both human and mouse atherosclerotic lesions, and using loss-of-function approaches in vitro in macrophages and endothelial cells to measure inflammatory responses. We administered weekly injections of RIPK1 anti-sense oligonucleotides (ASO) to Apoe-/- mice fed a cholesterol-rich (Western) diet for 8 weeks. Results: We find RIPK1 expression is abundant in early-stage atherosclerotic lesions in both humans and mice. Treatment with RIPK1 ASOs led to a reduction in aortic sinus and en face lesion areas (47.2% or 58.8% decrease relative to control, pRIPK1 knockdown in macrophages decreased inflammatory genes (NFκB, TNFα, IL-1α) and in vivo LPS- and atherogenic diet-induced NF-κB activation. In endothelial cells, knockdown of RIPK1 prevented NF-κB translocation to the nucleus in response to TNFα, where accordingly there was a reduction in gene expression of IL1B, E-selectin and monocyte attachment. Conclusions: We have identified RIPK1 as a central driver of inflammation in atherosclerosis by its ability to activate the NF-κB pathway and promote inflammatory cytokine release. Given the high levels of RIPK1 expression in human atherosclerotic lesions, our study suggests RIPK1 as a future therapeutic target to reduce residual inflammation in patients at high risk of coronary artery disease.Nephrolog