The cardiovascular disease, particularly acute myocardial infarction, is the most common cause of death worldwide. It is well documented that adaptation to chronic hypoxia increases resistance to ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in heart tissue. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important signalling role by the activation of the protective pathways during I/R, although, the excess of ROS during reperfusion leads to cardiac tissue injury. As the cellular antioxidant system is responsible for the maintenance of redox homeostasis, the main aim of this thesis was to investigate the relationship between myocardial tolerance to I/R injury and regulation of main components of antioxidant systems, related transcription factors and their target genes in protective and non- protective regimens of chronic hypoxia. We found differences in cardioprotective phenotype in rats exposed to three regimens of chronic normobaric hypoxia (FiO2 0.1, 3 weeks). The adaptation to continual (CNH) and intermittent (CNH-8; 8 h/day) regimen of hypoxia increased myocardial resistance to I/R damage, whereas 1-hour daily interruption of hypoxic adaptation (INH-23) abolished cardioprotective effect and decreased the ratio of reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG). Both cardioprotective regimens significantly increased...

Isolated noncompaction of the left ventricular myocardium (INVM) is characterized by the presence of numerous prominent trabeculations and deep intertrabecular recesses within the left ventricle, sometimes also affecting the right ventricle and interventricular septum. Familial occurrence of this disorder was described previously. We present a family in which 6 affected individuals demonstrated X-linked recessive inheritance of this trait. Affected relatives presented postnatally with left ventricular failure and arrhythmias, associated with the pathognomonic echocardiographic findings of INVM. The usual findings of Barth syndrome (neutropenia, growth retardation, elevated urinary organic acids, low carnitine levels, and mitochondrial abnormalities) were either absent or found inconsistently. Fetal echocardiograms obtained between 24-30 weeks of gestation in 3 of the affected males showed a dilated left ventricle in one heart, but were not otherwise diagnostic of INVM in any of the cases. Four of the affected individuals died during infancy, one is in cardiac failure at age 8 months, and one is alive following cardiac transplant at age 9 months. The hearts from infants who died or underwent transplantation appeared, on gross examination, to be enlarged, with coarse, deep ventricular trabeculations and prominent endocardial fibroelastosis. Histologically, there were loosely organized fascicles of myocytes in subepicardial and midmyocardial zones of both ventricles, and the myocytes showed thin, often angulated fibers with prominent central clearing and reduced numbers of filaments. Markedly elongated mitochondria were present in some ventricular myocytes from one specimen, but this finding was not reproducible. Genetic linkage analysis has localized INVM to the Xq28 region, where other myopathies with cardiac involvement have been located.

Heart failure resulting from different forms of cardiomyopathy is defined as the inability of the heart to pump sufficient blood to meet the body's metabolic demands. It is a major disease burden worldwide and the statistics show that 50% of the people who have the heart failure will eventually die from sudden cardiac death (SCD) associated with an arrhythmia. The central cause of disability and SCD is because of ventricular arrhythmias. Genetic mutations and acquired modifications to RyR2, the calcium release channel from sarcoplasmic reticulum, can increase the pathologic SR Ca2+ leak during diastole, which leads to defects in SR calcium handling and causes ventricular arrhythmias. The mechanism of RyR2 dysfunction includes abnormal phosphorylation, disrupted interaction with regulatory proteins and ions, or altered RyR2 domain interactions. Many pharmacological strategies have shown promising prospects to modulate the RyR2 as a therapy for treating cardiac arrhythmias. Here, we are trying to establish a novel approach to designing new drugs to treat heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias. Previously, we demonstrated that all pharmacological inhibitors of RyR channels are electron donors while all activators of RyR channels are electron acceptors. This was the first demonstration that an exchange of electrons was a common molecular mechanism involved in modifying the function of the RyR. Moreover, we found that there is a strong correlation between the strength of the electron donor/acceptor, and its potency as a channel inhibitor/activator, which could serve as a basis and direction for developing new drugs targeting the RyR. In this study, two new potent RyR inhibitors, 4-methoxy-3-methyl phenol (4-MmC) and the 1,3 dioxole derivative of K201, were synthesized which are derivatives of the known RyR modulators, 4-chloro-3-methyl phenol (4-CmC) and K201. The ability of K201, 1,3 dioxole derivative of K201 and 4-MmC to inhibit the cardiac calcium channel is examined and compared at the single channel level. All of these compounds inhibited the channel activity at low micromolar concentrations or sub-micromolar concentrations.

The sarcoplasmic reticulum is an internal membrane system that controls the Ca²⁺ concentration inside muscle cells, and hence the contractile state of both skeletal and cardiac muscle. A key protein that that regulates the Ca²⁺ concentration in this membrane is known as the calcium release channel (CRC). The effects on Ca²⁺ dependent activation is of major importance in the study of CRC since other channel modifiers cannot effect the channel in the absence of Ca²⁺, or they require Ca²⁺ for maximum results. In this study of the high-affinity Ca²⁺ binding site, expected increases in total binding and shifts in the sensitivity of the channel to Ca²⁺ were observed when the pH increased or the solution redox status became more oxidative. Ranolazine, a drug used for treating Angina Pectoris (chest pain), desensitized the cardiac CRC activation but had no effect on the skeletal CRC. This selective desensitization may be the cause of Ranolazine's beneficial therapeutic effects. Both Ranolazine, and homocystein thiolactone (HCTL), a naturally occurring derivative of homocysteine, alters Ca²⁺ dependent activation by calcium without changing the number of channels found in the open state. Surprisingly the effect of HCTL was observed only in a reduced redox potential which leads to speculation that the formation of an alpha-carbon radical by HCTL on the cardiac CRC only occurs if select thiols are in a reduced state.

No description available.

Background: Streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes leads to various complications including cardiomyopathy. Recent data suggests transplanted bone marrow stem cells improve cardiac function in diabetic cardiomyopathy. However, whether modified ES, iPS cells, or factors released from these cells can inhibit apoptosis and fibrosis remains completely unknown. The present study was designed to determine the effects of transplanted ES cells overexpressing pancreatic transcription factor 1 a (Ptf1a), a propancreatic endodermal transcription factor, iPS cells, or their respective conditioned media (CM) on diabetic cardiomyopathy. Methods: Experimental diabetes was induced in male Sprague Dawley rats (8-10 weeks old) by intraperitoneal STZ injections (65 mg/kg body weight for 2 consecutive days). Animals were divided into six experimental groups including control, treated with sodium citrate buffer IP, STZ, STZ + ES-Ptf1a cells, STZ + iPS cells, STZ + ES-Ptf1a CM and STZ + iPS CM. Following STZ injections, appropriate cells (1 X 106/mL/injection/day) or CM (2 mL injection/day) were given intravenously for 3 consecutive days. Animals were sacrificed and hearts were harvested at day 28. Histology, TUNEL staining, and Caspase-3 activity were used to assess apoptosis and fibrosis. ERK1/2 phosphorylation was quantified using ELISAs. M-mode echocardiography fractional shortening was used to assess cardiac function. Results: Animals transplanted with ES cells, iPS cells, or both CMs showed a significant (p

In the present study, the contractility of isolated cardiac muscle obtained from normotensive and treated or untreated hypertensive rat hearts were investigated. The effects of inotropic agents were also explored • Some SHRs were subjected to chronic antihypertensive treatment. After their blood pressure had been lowered, positive and negative inotropic agents were used to study the papillary muscles. The effects of acidosis, increased extracellular calcium, hypoxia, and reoxygenation on the isolated papillary muscles obtained from their hearts were studied. The same was done for isolated cardiac muscles that were removed from WKYs and SHRs. Isoproterenol in the absence or presence of propranolol was also used to investigate the contractility of SHRs and WKYs. Clonidine, alpha-methyldopa, and verapamil all reduced the blood pressures of SHRs which were on chronic antihypertensive therapy. When propranolol was added to the muscle bath, the developed tension of the SHRs was significantly higher than that of the WKYs by 13.1% (p

Advances in genome editing, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), and cardiac tissue engineering have significantly improved the ability of in vitro models to model cardiac disease. The objective of this dissertation is to leverage cardiac tissue engineering to generate meaningful biological insights into human genetic cardiomyopathies. First, we studied a novel, de novo mutation in the filamin C (FLNC) gene which causes restrictive cardiomyopathy in a young patient. Using engineered cardiac tissues, we showed that this mutation causes a restrictive phenotype marked by increased passive tension and slowed contraction velocities. Complementing our engineered tissues, we used high-throughput calcium imaging to identify compounds which improved myocardial relaxation in mutant cardiomyocytes. These compounds improved function of mutant cardiac tissues, suggesting a potentially targetable pathway in the patient’s mutation. In another study, engineered cardiac tissues and stem cells were used to study BAG3, a dilated cardiomyopathy- related gene, in cardiac fibroblasts. BAG3-/- and wild-type iPSCs were differentiated to cardiac fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes. By generating fully isogenic cardiac tissues and altering cellular genotypes, we determined that the loss of BAG3 in cardiac fibroblasts was deleterious to cardiac tissue function despite genetically normal cardiomyocytes. Further work studying cardiac fibroblasts revealed a mechanistic function of BAG3 in regulating cardiac fibroblast extracellular matrix synthesis. Together, this work highlights the ability of cardiac tissues and stem cells to unravel the complexities of genetic heart disease.

Mutations in the gene encoding the nuclear lamina protein lamin A/C (LMNA) and the associated integral inner nuclear membrane protein emerin (EMD) give rise to similar disease phenotypes and are both classified as Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD). However, the connection between the function of these nuclear envelope proteins and disease phenotype remains elusive. Given the consistent manifestation of dilated cardiomyopathy in EDMD, my investigation focused on deciphering the roles of these nuclear envelope proteins in the heart. To better understand their functions, I generated a set of isogenic human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines with either LMNA mutation causing lamin A/C haploinsufficiency or EMD mutation causing emerin deficiency. I differentiated these iPSCs into cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) and obtained their RNA transcript and protein expression profiles. I found that both mutant lines exhibited significant overlap in transcriptome and proteome changes. Analyzing alterations at both RNA and protein levels shed light on the potential functional roles of lamin A/C and emerin in cardiomyocytes and pathogenic mechanisms. To better understand the cardiac defects caused by loss of lamin A/C. I generated mice lines with tissue-specific and temporally regulated knockout of Lmna in the heart. The mutant mice experienced lethality due to heart failure, regardless of whether Lmna was knocked out at the embryonic or mature adult heart. This demonstrates that lamin A/C has a vital role in the normal function of cardiomyocytes.

No description available.