Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) activates a distinct form of cardiac muscle cell hypertrophy in which the sarcomeric units are assembled in series. The aim of the study was to determine the expres- sion pattern of sarcomeric...Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) activates a distinct form of cardiac muscle cell hypertrophy in which the sarcomeric units are assembled in series. The aim of the study was to determine the expres- sion pattern of sarcomeric contractile protein α-actin, specialized eytoskeletal protein α-actinin and mitochondrial uncoupling protein-2 (UCP2) in myocardial remodeling induced by chronic exposure to CT-1. Kunming mice were intraperitoneally injected with carboxy-terminal polypeptide (CP) of CT-1 (CT-1-CP, 500 μg·kg-1·day^-1) for 1, 2, 3 and 4 week (s), respectively (4 groups obtained according to the injection time, n=10 each, with 5 males and 5 females in each group), Those injected with physiological saline for 4 weeks served as controls (n=10, with 5 males and 5 females). The heart tissues of mice were harvested at 1, 2, 3 or 4 week (s). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blotting (WB) were used to detect the distribution and expression of sarcomeric α-actin, α-aetinin and mitoehondrial UCP2 in myocardial tissues. IHC showed that α-actin was mainly distributed around the nuclei of cardiomyo- cytes, α-actinin concentrated around the striae and UCP2 scattered rather evenly in the plasma. The ex- pression of α-actin was slightly greater than that of α-actinin and UCP2 in the control group (IHC: χ^2=6.125; WB: F=0.249, P〉0.05) and it gradually decreased after exposure to CT-1-CP. There was no significant difference in the expression of α-actin between the control group and the CT-1-CP-treated groups (χ^2=7.386, P〉0.05). But Western blotting revealed significant difference in the expression of α-actin between the control group and the 4-week CT-1-CP-treated group (F=2.912; q=4.203, P〈0.05). Moreover, it was found that the expression of α-actinin increased stepwise with the exposure time in CT-1-CP-treated groups and differed significantly between CT-1-CP-treated groups and the control group (ICH: χ^2=21.977; WB: F=50.388; P〈0.01). The expression of UCP2 was initially increased (WB: control group vs. 1- or 2-week group, q values: 5.603 and 9.995, respectively, P〈0.01) and then de- creased (WB: control group vs. 3-week group, q=4.742, P〈0.01; control group vs. 4-week group, q=0.558, P〉0.05). It was suggested that long-term exposure to CT-1-CP could lead to the alteration in the expression of sarcomeric α-actin, α-actinin and mitochonclrial UCP2. The different expressions of sarcomeric structure proteins and mitochondrial UCP2 may be involved in myocardial remodeling.展开更多
文摘Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) activates a distinct form of cardiac muscle cell hypertrophy in which the sarcomeric units are assembled in series. The aim of the study was to determine the expres- sion pattern of sarcomeric contractile protein α-actin, specialized eytoskeletal protein α-actinin and mitochondrial uncoupling protein-2 (UCP2) in myocardial remodeling induced by chronic exposure to CT-1. Kunming mice were intraperitoneally injected with carboxy-terminal polypeptide (CP) of CT-1 (CT-1-CP, 500 μg·kg-1·day^-1) for 1, 2, 3 and 4 week (s), respectively (4 groups obtained according to the injection time, n=10 each, with 5 males and 5 females in each group), Those injected with physiological saline for 4 weeks served as controls (n=10, with 5 males and 5 females). The heart tissues of mice were harvested at 1, 2, 3 or 4 week (s). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blotting (WB) were used to detect the distribution and expression of sarcomeric α-actin, α-aetinin and mitoehondrial UCP2 in myocardial tissues. IHC showed that α-actin was mainly distributed around the nuclei of cardiomyo- cytes, α-actinin concentrated around the striae and UCP2 scattered rather evenly in the plasma. The ex- pression of α-actin was slightly greater than that of α-actinin and UCP2 in the control group (IHC: χ^2=6.125; WB: F=0.249, P〉0.05) and it gradually decreased after exposure to CT-1-CP. There was no significant difference in the expression of α-actin between the control group and the CT-1-CP-treated groups (χ^2=7.386, P〉0.05). But Western blotting revealed significant difference in the expression of α-actin between the control group and the 4-week CT-1-CP-treated group (F=2.912; q=4.203, P〈0.05). Moreover, it was found that the expression of α-actinin increased stepwise with the exposure time in CT-1-CP-treated groups and differed significantly between CT-1-CP-treated groups and the control group (ICH: χ^2=21.977; WB: F=50.388; P〈0.01). The expression of UCP2 was initially increased (WB: control group vs. 1- or 2-week group, q values: 5.603 and 9.995, respectively, P〈0.01) and then de- creased (WB: control group vs. 3-week group, q=4.742, P〈0.01; control group vs. 4-week group, q=0.558, P〉0.05). It was suggested that long-term exposure to CT-1-CP could lead to the alteration in the expression of sarcomeric α-actin, α-actinin and mitochonclrial UCP2. The different expressions of sarcomeric structure proteins and mitochondrial UCP2 may be involved in myocardial remodeling.
基金This work was supported by the National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists of China (No. 81325009) and National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 81270168, No. 81227901), (Feng Cao BWS12J037), Innovation Team granted by Ministry of Education PRC (IRT1053), National Basic Research Program of China (2012CB518101). Shaanxi Province Program (2013K12-02-03, 2014KCT-20). The authors declare no conflict of interest.