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Myocardial lipin1 protects the heart against ischemic injury by preserving lipid homeostasis
Jiaxi Guo, Kohei Karasaki, Kazutaka Ueda, Manami Katoh, Masaki Hashimoto, Toshiyuki Ko, Masato Ishizuka, Satoshi Bujo, Chunxia Zhao, Risa Kishikawa, Haruka Yanagisawa-Murakami, Hiroyuki Sowa, Bowen Zhai, Mutsuo Harada, Seitaro Nomura, Norihiko Takeda, Brian N. Finck, Haruhiro Toko, Issei Komuro
Jiaxi Guo, Kohei Karasaki, Kazutaka Ueda, Manami Katoh, Masaki Hashimoto, Toshiyuki Ko, Masato Ishizuka, Satoshi Bujo, Chunxia Zhao, Risa Kishikawa, Haruka Yanagisawa-Murakami, Hiroyuki Sowa, Bowen Zhai, Mutsuo Harada, Seitaro Nomura, Norihiko Takeda, Brian N. Finck, Haruhiro Toko, Issei Komuro
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Research Article Cardiology Metabolism

Myocardial lipin1 protects the heart against ischemic injury by preserving lipid homeostasis

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Abstract

Impaired cardiac lipid metabolism has been reported to cause heart failure. Lipin1, a multifunctional protein, is a phosphatidate phosphatase that generates diacylglycerol from phosphatidic acid and a transcriptional cofactor that regulates lipid metabolism-related gene expression. Here, we investigated the roles of lipin1 in cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). The expression levels of lipin1 significantly decreased in cardiomyocytes of the human failing heart and murine ischemic myocardium. Cardiomyocyte-specific Lpin1 knockout (cKO) mice showed left ventricle enlargement and reduced fractional shortening after MI, compared with control mice. This was accompanied by elevated cardiac fibrosis, accumulation of reactive oxygen species, and increased expression of inflammatory cytokines. In contrast, cardiomyocyte-specific Lpin1 overexpression (cOE) mice showed reduced fibrosis and inflammation and improved cardiac function compared with control mice. Cardiac lipid droplets (LDs) were reduced after MI in WT mouse hearts and were further downregulated in the hearts of cKO mice with a decrease in triacylglycerol and free fatty acid content, while cOE mice hearts exhibited increased LDs and lipid content. Expression levels of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation, such as Ppargc1a (PGC1A) and Acaa2, were decreased and increased in the MI hearts of cKO mice and cOE mice, respectively. These results suggest the protective role of lipin1 against ischemic injury by maintaining lipid metabolism in ischemic cardiomyocytes.

Authors

Jiaxi Guo, Kohei Karasaki, Kazutaka Ueda, Manami Katoh, Masaki Hashimoto, Toshiyuki Ko, Masato Ishizuka, Satoshi Bujo, Chunxia Zhao, Risa Kishikawa, Haruka Yanagisawa-Murakami, Hiroyuki Sowa, Bowen Zhai, Mutsuo Harada, Seitaro Nomura, Norihiko Takeda, Brian N. Finck, Haruhiro Toko, Issei Komuro

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Figure 3

Cardiac function dynamics after MI surgery.

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Cardiac function dynamics after MI surgery.
(A) Four weeks after MI, cKO...
(A) Four weeks after MI, cKO mice showed exacerbated remodeling and a significantly elevated HW/BW ratio compared with their littermates. n = 12 [Ctl(cKO), sham], n = 11 (cKO, sham), n = 18 [Ctl(cKO), MI], n = 21 (cKO, MI). Data are presented as the mean ± SEM. **P < 0.01 by ordinary 1-way ANOVA. cOE mice displayed milder remodeling relative to their littermate controls, maintaining a comparable heart weight/body weight (HW/BW) ratio. n = 9 [Ctl(cOE), sham], n = 6 (cOE, sham), n = 13 [Ctl(cOE), MI], n = 14 (cOE, MI). Data are presented as the mean ± SEM by ordinary 1-way ANOVA. Scale bar: 1mm. (B) B-mode echocardiography images at diastole and systole over 4 weeks after MI displayed endocardial surfaces, revealing left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVDd) and fractional area change (FAC) in cKO/cOE and their littermate controls. cKO mice showed a decreased FAC with increased LVDd after MI than their littermates. n = 12 [Ctl(cKO), sham], n = 11 (cKO, sham), n = 16–18 [Ctl(cKO), MI], n = 20-21 (cKO, MI). Data are presented as the mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001 by 2-way ANOVA. cOE mice showed an increased FAC after MI than their littermates. n = 9 [Ctl(cOE), sham], n = 6 (cOE, sham), n = 13 [Ctl(cOE), MI], n = 14 (cOE, MI). Scale bar: 1mm. (C) H&E and EVG staining of 4-week infarct hearts showcased bigger fibrosis size (fibrotic area/left ventricular free wall) in cKO mice compared with their littermates, underscoring the severity of fibrosis. n = 6 [Ctl(cKO)], n = 5 (cKO). Data are presented as the mean ± SEM. **P < 0.01 by unpaired 2-tailed t test. In contrast, cOE mice exhibited diminished fibrosis size compared with their littermates. n = 4 [Ctl(cOE)], n = 4 (cOE). Data are presented as the mean ± SEM. **P < 0.01 by unpaired 2-tailed t test.

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