Myostatin Is Elevated in Congenital Heart Disease and After Mechanical Unloading

Myostatin is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass whose activity is upregulated in adult heart failure (HF); however, its role in congenital heart disease (CHD) is unknown.We studied myostatin and IGF-1 expression via Western blot in cardiac tissue at varying degrees of myocardial dysfunction and after biventricular support in CHD by collecting myocardial biopsies from four patient cohorts: A) adult subjects with no known cardiopulmonary disease (left ventricle, LV), (Adult Normal), (n = 5); B) pediatric subjects undergoing congenital cardiac surgery with normal RV size and function (right ventricular outflow tract, RVOT), (n = 3); C) pediatric subjects with worsening but hemodynamically stable LV failure [LV and right ventricle (LV, RV,)] with biopsy collected at the time of orthotopic heart transplant (OHT), (n = 7); and D) pediatric subjects with decompensated bi-ventricular failure on BiVAD support with biopsy collected at OHT (LV, RV, BiVAD), (n = 3).The duration of HF was longest in OHT patients compared to BIVAD. The duration of BiVAD support was 4.3±1.9 days. Myostatin expression was significantly increased in LV-OHT compared to RV-OHT and RVOT, and was increased more than double in decompensated biventricular HF (BiVAD) compared to both OHT and RVOT. An increased myostatin/IGF-1 ratio was associated with ventricular dysfunction.Myostatin expression in increased in CHD, and the myostatin/IGF-1 ratio increases as ventricular function deteriorates. Future investigation is necessary to determine if restoration of the physiologic myostatin/IGF-1 ratio has therapeutic potential in HF

Congenital Heart Disease–Causing Gata4 Mutation Displays Functional Deficits In Vivo

Defects of atrial and ventricular septation are the most frequent form of congenital heart disease, accounting for almost 50% of all cases. We previously reported that a heterozygous G296S missense mutation of GATA4 caused atrial and ventricular septal defects and pulmonary valve stenosis in humans. GATA4 encodes a cardiac transcription factor, and when deleted in mice it results in cardiac bifida and lethality by embryonic day (E)9.5. In vitro, the mutant GATA4 protein has a reduced DNA binding affinity and transcriptional activity and abolishes a physical interaction with TBX5, a transcription factor critical for normal heart formation. To characterize the mutation in vivo, we generated mice harboring the same mutation, Gata4 G295S. Mice homozygous for the Gata4 G295S mutant allele have normal ventral body patterning and heart looping, but have a thin ventricular myocardium, single ventricular chamber, and lethality by E11.5. While heterozygous Gata4 G295S mutant mice are viable, a subset of these mice have semilunar valve stenosis and small defects of the atrial septum. Gene expression studies of homozygous mutant mice suggest the G295S protein can sufficiently activate downstream targets of Gata4 in the endoderm but not in the developing heart. Cardiomyocyte proliferation deficits and decreased cardiac expression of CCND2, a member of the cyclin family and a direct target of Gata4, were found in embryos both homozygous and heterozygous for the Gata4 G295S allele. To further define functions of the Gata4 G295S mutation in vivo, compound mutant mice were generated in which specific cell lineages harbored both the Gata4 G295S mutant and Gata4 null alleles. Examination of these mice demonstrated that the Gata4 G295S protein has functional deficits in early myocardial development. In summary, the Gata4 G295S mutation functions as a hypomorph in vivo and leads to defects in cardiomyocyte proliferation during embryogenesis, which may contribute to the development of congenital heart defects in humans

Cardiovascular development: towards biomedical applicability: Regulation of cardiomyocyte differentiation of embryonic stem cells by extracellular signalling

Investigating the signalling pathways that regulate heart development is essential if stem cells are to become an effective source of cardiomyocytes that can be used for studying cardiac physiology and pharmacology and eventually developing cell-based therapies for heart repair. Here, we briefly describe current understanding of heart development in vertebrates and review the signalling pathways thought to be involved in cardiomyogenesis in multiple species. We discuss how this might be applied to stem cells currently thought to have cardiomyogenic potential by considering the factors relevant for each differentiation step from the undifferentiated cell to nascent mesoderm, cardiac progenitors and finally a fully determined cardiomyocyte. We focus particularly on how this is being applied to human embryonic stem cells and provide recent examples from both our own work and that of others

Cell shrinkage follows, rather than mediates, the short-term effects of glucagon on carbohydrate metabolism.

The initial effects of glucagon on glycogen breakdown in isolated hepatocytes were found to be independent of cell volume and, when it occurred, cell shrinkage followed rather than mediated the glycogenolytic effect of glucagon. Similar conclusions could be drawn for the effect of glucagon on glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and for the antagonistic effect of insulin on glucagon action

[Regulation of Liver-metabolism By Cell Swelling]

Liver swelling caused by incubating hepatocytes in hypotonic media or with amino acids that are co-transported with sodium ion stimulates glycogen synthesis and lipogenesis, and inhibits proteolysis. Thus, liver swelling can be regarded as an anabolic signal. The signal transduction for glycogen synthesis and lipogenesis involves changes in ionic composition of the cells that follow cell swelling, and leads to the activation of glycogen synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase, the rate-controlling enzymes in these pathways. The ionic changes result from the accumulation of metabolites of amino acids and from the cellular response to swelling which causes the extrusion of KCl. These ionic changes stimulate the protein phosphatase(s) responsible for the activation of glycogen synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase

Activation of hepatic acetyl-CoA carboxylase by glutamate and Mg2+ is mediated by protein phosphatase-2A.

The activation of hepatic acetyl-CoA carboxylase by Na(+)-cotransported amino acids such as glutamine has been attributed mainly to the stimulation of its dephosphorylation by accumulating dicarboxylic acids, e.g. glutamate. We report here on a hepatic species of protein phosphatase-2A that activates acetyl-CoA carboxylase in the presence of physiological concentrations of glutamate or Mg2+ and, under these conditions, accounts for virtually all the hepatic acetyl-CoA carboxylase phosphatase activity. Glutamate also stimulated the dephosphorylation of a synthetic pentadecapeptide encompassing the Ser-79 phosphorylation site of rat acetyl-CoA carboxylase, but did not affect the dephosphorylation of other substrates such as phosphorylase. Conversely, protamine, which stimulated the dephosphorylation of phosphorylase, inhibited the activation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase. A comparison with various species of muscle protein phosphatase-2A showed that the stimulatory effects of glutamate and Mg2+ on the acetyl-CoA carboxylase phosphatase activity are largely mediated by the regulatory A subunit. Glutamate and Mg2+ emerge from our study as novel regulators of protein phosphatase-2A when acting on acetyl-CoA carboxylase

Activation of hepatic acetyl-CoA carboxylase by glutamate and Mg2+ is mediated by protein phosphatase-2A.

The activation of hepatic acetyl-CoA carboxylase by Na(+)-cotransported amino acids such as glutamine has been attributed mainly to the stimulation of its dephosphorylation by accumulating dicarboxylic acids, e.g. glutamate. We report here on a hepatic species of protein phosphatase-2A that activates acetyl-CoA carboxylase in the presence of physiological concentrations of glutamate or Mg2+ and, under these conditions, accounts for virtually all the hepatic acetyl-CoA carboxylase phosphatase activity. Glutamate also stimulated the dephosphorylation of a synthetic pentadecapeptide encompassing the Ser-79 phosphorylation site of rat acetyl-CoA carboxylase, but did not affect the dephosphorylation of other substrates such as phosphorylase. Conversely, protamine, which stimulated the dephosphorylation of phosphorylase, inhibited the activation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase. A comparison with various species of muscle protein phosphatase-2A showed that the stimulatory effects of glutamate and Mg2+ on the acetyl-CoA carboxylase phosphatase activity are largely mediated by the regulatory A subunit. Glutamate and Mg2+ emerge from our study as novel regulators of protein phosphatase-2A when acting on acetyl-CoA carboxylase