Jianqin Wei

Repression of miR-142 by p300 and MAPK is required for survival signalling via gp130 during adaptive hypertrophy.

An increase in cardiac workload, ultimately resulting in hypertrophy, generates oxidative stress and therefore requires the activation of both survival and growth signal pathways. Here, we wanted to characterize the regulators, targets and mechanistic roles of miR‐142, a microRNA (miRNA) negatively regulated during hypertrophy. We show that both miRNA‐142‐3p and ‐5p are repressed by serum‐derived growth factors in cultured cardiac myocytes, in models of cardiac hypertrophy in vivo and in human cardiomyopathic hearts. Levels of miR‐142 are inversely related to levels of acetyltransferase p300 and MAPK activity. When present, miR‐142 inhibits both survival and growth pathways by directly targeting nodal regulators p300 and gp130. MiR‐142 also potently represses multiple components of the NF‐κB pathway, preventing cytokine‐mediated NO production and blocks translation of α‐actinin. Forced expression of miR‐142 during hypertrophic growth induced extensive apoptosis and cardiac dysfunction; conversely, loss of miR‐142 fully rescued cardiac function in a murine heart failure model. Downregulation of miR‐142 is required to enable cytokine‐mediated survival signalling during cardiac growth in response to haemodynamic stress and is a critical element of adaptive hypertrophy.

PI3K/mTOR inhibition can impair tumor invasion and metastasis in vivo despite a lack of antiproliferative action in vitro: implications for targeted therapy.

Oncogenic PI3K/mTOR activation is frequently observed in human cancers and activates cell motility via p27 phosphorylations at T157 and T198. Here we explored the potential for a novel PI3K/mTOR inhibitor to inhibit tumor invasion and metastasis. An MDA-MB-231 breast cancer line variant, MDA-MB-231-1833, with high metastatic bone tropism, was treated with a novel catalytic PI3K/mTOR inhibitor, PF-04691502, at nM doses that did not impair proliferation. Effects on tumor cell motility, invasion, p27 phosphorylation, localization, and bone metastatic outgrowth were assayed. MDA-MB-231-1833 showed increased PI3K/mTOR activation, high levels of cytoplasmic p27pT157pT198 and increased cell motility and invasion in vitro versus parental. PF-04691502 treatment, at a dose that did not affect proliferation, reduced total and cytoplasmic p27, decreased p27pT157pT198 and restored cell motility and invasion to levels seen in MDA-MB-231. p27 knockdown in MDA-MB-231-1833 phenocopied PI3K/mTOR inhibition, whilst overexpression of the phosphomimetic mutant p27T157DT198D caused resistance to the anti-invasive effects of PF-04691502. Pre-treatment of MDA-MB-231-1833 with PF-04691502 significantly impaired metastatic tumor formation in vivo, despite lack of antiproliferative effects in culture and little effect on primary orthotopic tumor growth. A further link between cytoplasmic p27 and metastasis was provided by a study of primary human breast cancers which showed cytoplasmic p27 is associated with increased lymph nodal metastasis and reduced survival. Novel PI3K/mTOR inhibitors may oppose tumor metastasis independent of their growth inhibitory effects, providing a rationale for clinical investigation of PI3K/mTOR inhibitors in settings to prevent micrometastasis. In primary human breast cancers, cytoplasmic p27 is associated with worse outcomes and increased nodal metastasis, and may prove useful as a marker of both PI3K/mTOR activation and PI3K/mTOR inhibitor efficacy.

c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK-1) Confers Protection against Brief but Not Extended Ischemia during Acute Myocardial Infarction

Brief periods of ischemia do not damage the heart and can actually protect against reperfusion injury caused by extended ischemia. It is not known what causes the transition from protection to irreversible damage as ischemia progresses. c-Jun N-terminal kinase-1 (JNK-1) is a stress-regulated kinase that is activated by reactive oxygen and thought to promote injury during severe acute myocardial infarction. Because some reports suggest that JNK-1 can also be protective, we hypothesized that the function of JNK-1 depends on the metabolic state of the heart at the time of reperfusion, a condition that changes progressively with duration of ischemia. Mice treated with JNK-1 inhibitors or transgenic mice wherein the JNK-1 gene was ablated were subjected to 5 or 20 min of ischemia followed by reperfusion. When JNK-1 was inactive, ischemia of only 5 min duration caused massive apoptosis, infarction, and negative remodeling that was equivalent to or greater than extended ischemia. Conversely, when ischemia was extended JNK-1 inactivation was protective. Mechanisms of the JNK-1 switch in function were investigated in vivo and in cultured cardiac myocytes. In vitro there was a comparable switch in the function of JNK-1 from protective when ATP levels were maintained during hypoxia to injurious when reoxygenation followed glucose and ATP depletion. Both apoptotic and necrotic death pathways were affected and responded reciprocally to JNK-1 inhibitors. JNK-1 differentially regulated Akt phosphorylation of the regulatory sites Ser-473 and Thr-450 and the catalytic Thr-308 site in vivo. The studies define a novel role for JNK-1 as a conditional survival kinase that protects the heart against brief but not protracted ischemia.

Comparison of microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 deletion and COX-2 inhibition in acute cardiac ischemia in mice.

The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of genetic mPGES-1 loss and COX-2 inhibition on myocardial damage after coronary occlusion. mPGES-1(-/-) mice and their wild-type littermates were injected with vehicle or COX-2 inhibitor (celecoxib), and 30min later the left coronary artery was surgically occluded. At 24h, myocardial infarct (MI) volume was measured histologically. Post-MI survival was reduced in WT mice receiving celecoxib (12/20) compared with vehicle-treated controls (12/12) or the loss of mPGES-1 (13/13) together with increased phosphokinase (CPK) and cardiac troponin-I release. Endogenous mPGES-1 expression was unchanged by ischemia in WT mice and absent in mPGES-1(-/-) hearts. COX-2 expression was markedly increased at 24h after MI in WT hearts; this upregulation was largely attenuated in mPGES-1(-/-) mice. We conclude that loss of mPGES-1 prevents the upregulation of COX-2 after myocardial infarct, and in contrast to inhibition of COX-2, does not increase ischemic myocardial damage.

A cardiac myocyte-restricted Lin28/let-7 regulatory axis promotes hypoxia-mediated apoptosis by inducing the AKT signaling suppressor PIK3IP1.

RATIONALE The let-7 family of microRNAs (miRs) regulates critical cell functions, including survival signaling, differentiation, metabolic control and glucose utilization. These functions may be important during myocardial ischemia. MiR-let-7 expression is under tight temporal and spatial control through multiple redundant mechanisms that may be stage-, isoform- and tissue-specific. OBJECTIVE To determine the mechanisms and functional consequences of miR-let-7 regulation by hypoxia in the heart. METHODS AND RESULTS MiR-let-7a, -7c and -7g were downregulated in the adult mouse heart early after coronary occlusion, and in neonatal rat ventricular myocytes subjected to hypoxia. Let-7 repression did not require glucose depletion, and occurred at a post-transcriptional level. Hypoxia also induced the RNA binding protein Lin28, a negative regulator of let-7. Hypoxia ineither induced Lin28 nor repressed miR-let-7 in cardiac fibroblasts. Both changes were abrogated by treatment with the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A. Restoration of let-7g to hypoxic myocytes and to ischemia-reperfused mouse hearts in vivo via lentiviral transduction potentiated the hypoxia-induced phosphorylation and activation of Akt, and prevented hypoxia-dependent caspase activation and death. Mechanistically, phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase interacting protein 1 (Pik3ip1), a negative regulator of PI3K, was identified as a novel target of miR-let-7 by a crosslinking technique showing that miR-let-7g specifically targets Pik3ip1 to the cardiac myocyte Argonaute complex RISC. Finally, in non-failing and failing human myocardium, we found specific inverse relationships between Lin28 and miR-let-7g, and between miR-let-7g and PIK3IP1. CONCLUSION A conserved hypoxia-responsive Lin28-miR-let-7-Pik3ip1 regulatory axis is specific to cardiac myocytes and promotes apoptosis during myocardial ischemic injury.

The effects of microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 deletion in acute cardiac ischemia in mice

The goal of the present study was to assess how genetic loss of microsomal prostaglandin E(2) synthase-1 (mPGES-1) affects acute cardiac ischemic damage after coronary occlusion in mice. Wild type (WT), heterozygous (mPGES-1(+/-)), and homozygous (mPGES-1(-/-)) knockout mice were subjected to left coronary artery occlusion. At 24h, myocardial infarct (MI) volume was measured histologically. Post-MI survival, plasma levels of creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and cardiac troponin-I, together with MI size, were similar in WT, mPGES-1(+/-) and mPGES-1(-/-) mice. In contrast, post-MI survival was reduced in mPGES-1(-/-) mice pretreated with I prostanoid receptor (IP) antagonist (12/16) compared with vehicle-treated controls (13/13 mPGES-1(-/-)) together with increased CPK and cardiac troponin-I release. The deletion of mPGES-1 in mice results in increased prostacyclin I(2) (PGI(2)) formation and marginal effects on the circulatory prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) level. We conclude that loss of mPGES-1 results in increased PGI(2) formation, and in contrast to inhibition of PGI(2), without worsening acute cardiac ischemic injury.

Reversal of pathological cardiac hypertrophy via the MEF2-coregulator interface

Cardiac hypertrophy, as a response to hemodynamic stress, is associated with cardiac dysfunction and death, but whether hypertrophy itself represents a pathological process remains unclear. Hypertrophy is driven by changes in myocardial gene expression that require the MEF2 family of DNA-binding transcription factors, as well as the nuclear lysine acetyltransferase p300. Here we used genetic and small-molecule probes to determine the effects of preventing MEF2 acetylation on cardiac adaptation to stress. Both nonacetylatable MEF2 mutants and 8MI, a molecule designed to interfere with MEF2-coregulator binding, prevented hypertrophy in cultured cardiac myocytes. 8MI prevented cardiac hypertrophy in 3 distinct stress models, and reversed established hypertrophy in vivo, associated with normalization of myocardial structure and function. The effects of 8MI were reversible, and did not prevent training effects of swimming. Mechanistically, 8MI blocked stress-induced MEF2 acetylation, nuclear export of class II histone deacetylases HDAC4 and -5, and p300 induction, without impeding HDAC4 phosphorylation. Correspondingly, 8MI transformed the transcriptional response to pressure overload, normalizing almost all 232 genes dysregulated by hemodynamic stress. We conclude that MEF2 acetylation is required for development and maintenance of pathological cardiac hypertrophy, and that blocking MEF2 acetylation can permit recovery from hypertrophy without impairing physiologic adaptation.

Whole-mount imaging of the mouse hindlimb vasculature using the lipophilic carbocyanine dye DiI.

The availability of transgenic disease backgrounds and the accessibility of molecular research reagents have contributed to make the mouse ischemic hindlimb the model of choice for many studies of angiogenesis, and to investigate new treatments for peripheral artery disease. A limitation of these models involves our inability to easily visualize the regenerated vascular architecture. Approaches such as micro-computed tomography and micro-angiography are expensive, technically demanding and not available to many laboratories. Here we describe a rapid and inexpensive adaptation of a vascular staining procedure for precise imaging of the mouse hindlimb vasculature. We introduced two technical modifications and an analytical extension to the original method including (i) pre-skinning of the muscle prior to fixation that preserves tissue integrity, (ii) mild pressure-desiccation subsequent to fixing that enhances resolution and image penetration, and (iii) reconstruction of confocal data into 3D images. The procedure provides resolution that is equivalent or superior to other approaches at a fraction of the cost, time and technology required.