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Biomedical subjects

R A Kelly

Publications and source records attributed to R A Kelly.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Daunorubicin-induced apoptosis in rat cardiac myocytes is inhibited by dexrazoxane.

-The clinical efficacy of anthracycline antineoplastic agents is limited by a high incidence of severe and usually irreversible cardiac toxicity, the cause of which remains controversial. In primary cultures of neonatal and adult rat ventricular myocytes, we found that daunorubicin, at concentrations </=1 micromol/L, induced myocyte programmed cell death within 24 hours, as defined by several complementary techniques. In contrast, daunorubicin concentrations >/=10 micromol/L induced necrotic cell death within 24 hours, with no changes characteristic of apoptosis. To determine whether reactive oxygen species play a role in daunorubicin-mediated apoptosis, we monitored the generation of hydrogen peroxide with dichlorofluorescein (DCF). However, daunorubicin (1 micromol/L) did not increase DCF fluorescence, nor were the antioxidants N-acetylcysteine or the combination of alpha-tocopherol and ascorbic acid able to prevent apoptosis. In contrast, dexrazoxane (10 micromol/L), known clinically to limit anthracycline cardiac toxicity, prevented daunorubicin-induced myocyte apoptosis, but not necrosis induced by higher anthracycline concentrations (>/=10 micromol/L). The antiapoptotic action of dexrazoxane was mimicked by the superoxide-dismutase mimetic porphyrin manganese(II/III)tetrakis(1-methyl-4-peridyl)porphyrin (50 micromol/L). The recognition that anthracycline-induced cardiac myocyte apoptosis, perhaps mediated by superoxide anion generation, occurs at concentrations well below those that result in myocyte necrosis, may aid in the design of new therapeutic strategies to limit the toxicity of these drugs.

Animals↗

Muscarinic cholinergic signaling in cardiac myocytes: dynamic targeting of M2AChR to sarcolemmal caveolae and eNOS activation.

The isoform of nitric oxide synthase (eNOS or NOS3) originally described in endothelial cells is also expressed in a number of other cell types, including cardiac myocytes. eNOS is activated in both atrial and ventricular myocytes, including specialized pacemaker cells, by M2AChR agonists, among other stimuli. In cardiac myocytes, as in endothelial cells, eNOS is targeted to sarcolemmal caveolae, due to both co-translational myristoylation and later palmitoylation, and by the presence of a caveolin binding domain in eNOS which interacts with the caveolin scaffolding domain. In the absence of ligand, the M2AChR is not associated with caveolar microdomains, but translates into caveolae upon agonist (but not antagonist) binding. Finally, the role of M2AChR-induced eNOS activation in regulating I(Ca-L) via activation of guanylyl cyclase has been confirmed in ventricular myocytes of mice that lack functional eNOS (i.e., eNOS(null)).

Animals↗

Inducible nitric oxide synthase and tumor necrosis factor in animal models of myocardial necrosis induced by coronary artery ligation or isoproterenol injection.

BACKGROUND: Increased expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has been described in humans with cardiomyopathies. Most animal models of ischemia-induced heart failure use the surgical ligation of coronary arteries. However, studies of iNOS expression in these models may be confounded by a robust immune response because of the surgical procedure itself leading to iNOS expression in the heart, as well as in other tissues. METHODS AND RESULTS: iNOS expression was studied in adult male rats injected subcutaneously with either 250 mg/kg of isoproterenol (ISO) or vehicle on 2 consecutive days. This approach induces diffuse myocardial necrosis and leads to the development of a dilated cardiomyopathy. Hearts from ISO-injected animals harvested at 6 weeks had evidence of apical and subendocardial scarring. These hearts showed a 9.6-fold (left ventricle [LV], P = .004) and an 11.9-fold (right ventricle, P = .002) increase in the expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and a 6.8-fold increase (LV, P = .0183) in iNOS messenger RNA compared with vehicle-injected controls. iNOS protein also was detectable by immmunoprecipitation in left ventricular muscle from ISO-injected animals, as well as by immunohistochemical analysis. CONCLUSION: Expression of TNF and iNOS in the heart is increased in an experimental model of dilated cardiomyopathy that minimizes the confounding effects of surgery, supporting a role for the activation of innate immunity signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of heart failure.

Animals↗

Expression and regulation of the sodium-calcium exchanger in cardiac microvascular endothelial cells.

1. The sodium-calcium exchanger (NCX) plays an important role in Ca2+ homeostasis. In the heart, NCX participates in the control of contraction and relaxation and in large vessel endothelial cells some data suggest that NCX could influence nitric oxide (NO) generation. In this context, the cardiac microvasculature has received considerable attention as a mediator of myocardial performance, via the release of paracrine acting factors such as NO. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to characterize NCX expression and regulation in cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMEC). The NCX expression was also examined in neonatal ventricular cardiomyocytes where aspects of its function and regulation have been well characterized. 2. The presence of functional NCX in CMEC was confirmed by the presence of a consistent rise in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in response to removal of extracellular Na+. Furthermore, NCX mRNA expression was readily detectable in CMEC. 3. In order to examine the role of possible physiological regulators of NCX expression, the effect of intracellular Ca2+ loading, caused by 24 h exposure to 10 mumol/L ouabain, was investigated. In Ca(2+)-loaded CMEC, there was a substantially greater rise in [Ca2+]i during exposure to Na(+)-free buffer: 33 +/- 6 versus 124 +/- 25 nmol/L% (P < 0.05), consistent with increased protein expression. Consistent with these findings, northern blot analysis confirmed the presence of a two-fold increase in NCX mRNA in these cells. 4. These data indicate the presence of functional NCX in CMEC and identify [Ca2+]i as a potential physiological regulator of expression.

Animals↗

An alpha-cardiac myosin heavy chain gene mutation impairs contraction and relaxation function of cardiac myocytes.

Left Ventricular (LV) myocytes were isolated from 15-wk-old male mice bearing the Arg403 --> Gln alpha-cardiac myosin heavy chain missense mutation (alpha-MHC403/+), a model of familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. LV myocytes were classified morphologically: type I, rod shaped with parallel myofibrils; type II, irregularly shaped, shorter and wider than wild-type (WT) control cells, with parallel myofibrils; and type III, irregularly shaped with disoriented myofibrils. Compared with WT myocytes, alpha-MHC403/+ myocytes had fewer type I cells (WT = 74 +/- 3%, alpha-MHC403/+ = 41 +/- 4%, P < 0.01) and more type III cells (WT= 12 +/- 3%, alpha-MHC403/+ = 49 +/- 7%, P < 0.01). In situ histology also demonstrated marked myofibrillar disarray in the alpha-MHC403/+ hearts. With the use of video edge detection, myocytes were paced at 1 Hz (37 degrees C) to determine the effects of the mutation on myocyte function. End-diastolic length was reduced in mutant myocytes, but fractional shortening (% contraction) and sarcomere length were not. Velocity of contraction (-dL/dtmax) was depressed in mutant cells, but more in type II and III cells (-31%) than in type I cells (-18%). Velocity of relaxation (+dL/dt) was also depressed more in type II and III cells (-38%) than in type I cells (-16%). Using fura 2 dye with intracellular Ca2+ transients, we demonstrated that in alpha-MHC403/+ myocytes, the amplitude of the Ca2+ signal during contraction was unchanged but that the time required for decay of the signal to decrease 70% from its maximum was delayed significantly (WT = 159 +/- 8 ms; alpha-MHC403/+ = 217 +/- 14 ms, P < 0.01). Sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase mRNA levels in alpha-MHC403/+ and WT mice were similar. These data indicate that the altered cardiac dysfunction of alpha-MHC403/+ myocytes is directly due to defective myocyte function rather than to secondary changes in global cardiac function and/or loading conditions.

Action Potentials↗

NRG-1-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Role of PI-3-kinase, p70(S6K), and MEK-MAPK-RSK.

Neuregulins are a family of growth-promoting peptides known to be important in neural and mesenchymal tissue development. Targeted disruption of neuregulin (NRG)-1 or one of two of its cognate receptors, ErbB2 or ErbB4, results in embryonic lethality because of failure of the heart to develop. Although expression of NRGs and their receptors declines after midembryogenesis, both ErbB2 and ErbB4 are present in cardiac myocytes, and NRG-1 expression remains inducible in primary cultures of coronary microvascular endothelial cells from adult rat ventricular muscle. In neonatal rat ventricular myocytes, a soluble NRG-1, recombinant human glial growth factor-2, increased [(3)H]phenylalanine uptake and induced expression of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and sarcomeric F-actin polymerization. The effect of NRG-1 on [(3)H]phenylalanine uptake and sarcomeric F-actin polymerization was maximal at 20 ng/ml but declined at higher concentrations. NRG-1 activated p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) [extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-2/ERK1] and ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK)-2 (90-kDa ribosomal S6 kinase), both of which could be inhibited by the MAPK/ERK kinase-1 antagonist PD-098059. NRG-1 also activated 70-kDa ribosomal S6 kinase, which was inhibited by either rapamycin or wortmannin. Activation of these pathways exhibited the same "biphasic" response to increasing NRG-1 concentrations. Wortmannin and LY-294002 blocked sarcomeric F-actin polymerization but not [(3)H]phenylalanine uptake or ANF expression, whereas PD-098059 consistently blocked both [(3)H]phenylalanine uptake and ANF expression but not actin polymerization. In contrast, rapamycin inhibited [(3)H]phenylalanine uptake and F-actin polymerization but not ANF expression. Thus NRG-ErbB signaling triggers multiple nonredundant pathways in postnatal ventricular myocytes.

Actins↗

Toll4 (TLR4) expression in cardiac myocytes in normal and failing myocardium.

Expression of innate immune response proteins, including IL-1beta, TNF, and the cytokine-inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), have been documented in the hearts of humans and experimental animals with heart failure regardless of etiology, although the proximal events leading to their expression are unknown. Noting that expression of a human homologue of Drosophila Toll, a proximal innate immunity transmembrane signaling protein in the fly, now termed human Toll-like receptor 4 (hTLR4), appeared to be relatively high in the heart, we examined TLR4 mRNA and protein abundance in isolated cellular constituents of cardiac muscle and in normal and abnormal murine, rat, and human myocardium. TLR4 expression levels in cardiac myocytes and in coronary microvascular endothelial cells could be enhanced by either LPS or IL-1beta, an effect inhibited by the oxygen radical scavenger PDTC. Transfection of a constitutively active TLR4 construct, CD4/hTLR4, resulted in activation of a nuclear factor-kappaB reporter construct, but not of an AP-1 or an iNOS reporter construct, in cardiac myocytes. In normal murine, rat, and human myocardium, TLR4 expression was diffuse, and presumably cytoplasmic, in cardiac myocytes. However, in remodeling murine myocardium remote from sites of ischemic injury and in heart tissue from patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, focal areas of intense TLR4 staining were observed in juxtaposed regions of 2 or more adjacent myocytes; this staining was not observed in control myocardium. Increased expression and signaling by TLR4, and perhaps other Toll homologues, may contribute to the activation of innate immunity in injured myocardium.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Modulation of the endothelial nitric-oxide synthase-caveolin interaction in cardiac myocytes. Implications for the autonomic regulation of heart rate.

The endothelial isoform of nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) is dually acylated and thereby targeted to signal-transducing microdomains termed caveolae. In endothelial cells, eNOS interacts with caveolin-1, which represses eNOS enzyme activity. In cardiac myocytes, eNOS associates with the muscle-specific caveolin-3 isoform, but whether this interaction affects NO production and regulates myocyte function is unknown. We isolated neonatal cardiac myocytes from mutant mice with targeted disruption of the eNOS gene and transfected them with wild-type (WT) eNOS or myristoylation-deficient (myr-) eNOS mutant cDNA. In myocytes expressing WT eNOS, the muscarinic cholinergic agonist carbachol completely abrogated the spontaneous beating rate and induced a 4-fold elevation of the cGMP level. By contrast, in the myr- eNOS myocytes, carbachol failed to exert its negative chronotropic effect and to increase cGMP levels. We then used a reversible permeabilization protocol to load intact neonatal rat myocytes with an oligopeptide corresponding to the caveolin-3 scaffolding domain. This peptide completely and specifically inhibited the carbachol-induced negative chronotropic effect and the accompanying cGMP elevation. Thus, our results suggest that acylated eNOS may couple muscarinic receptor activation to heart rate control and indicate a key role for eNOS/caveolin interactions in the cholinergic modulation of cardiac myocyte function.

Acylation↗

Muscarinic cholinergic regulation of cardiac myocyte ICa-L is absent in mice with targeted disruption of endothelial nitric oxide synthase.

Cardiac myocytes have been shown to express constitutively endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) (nitric oxide synthase 3), the activation of which has been implicated in the regulation of myocyte L-type voltage-sensitive calcium channel current (ICa-L) and myocyte contractile responsiveness to parasympathetic nervous system signaling, although this implication remains controversial. Therefore, we examined the effect of the muscarinic cholinergic agonist carbachol (CCh) on ICa-L and contractile amplitude in isoproterenol (ISO)-prestimulated ventricular myocytes isolated from adult mice, designated eNOSnull mice, with targeted disruption of the eNOS gene. Although both eNOSnull and wild-type (WT) ventricular myocytes exhibited similar increases in ICa-L in response to ISO, there was no measurable suppression of ICa-L by CCh in cells from eNOSnull mice, in contrast to cells from WT mice. These results were reflected in the absence of an effect of CCh on the positive inotropic effect of ISO in eNOSnull myocytes. Also, unlike myocytes from WT animals, eNOSnull myocytes failed to exhibit an increase in cGMP content in response to CCh. Nevertheless, the pharmacologic nitric oxide donors 3-morpholino-sydnonimine and S-nitroso-acetyl-cystein increased cGMP generation and suppressed ISO-augmented ICa-L in eNOSnull cells, suggesting that the signal transduction pathway(s) downstream of eNOS remained intact. Of importance, activation of the acetylcholine-activated K+ channel by CCh was unaffected in atrial and ventricular eNOSnull myocytes. These results confirm the obligatory role of eNOS in coupling muscarinic receptor activation to cGMP-dependent control of ICa-L in cardiac myocytes.

Animals↗

Mechanical strain suppresses inducible nitric-oxide synthase in cardiac myocytes.

We investigated the effects of precisely controlled mechanical strain on nitric-oxide synthase activity in cultured neonatal rat cardiac myocytes. Incubation of cardiac myocytes for 24 h with 4 ng/ml interleukin-1beta and 100 units/ml interferon-gamma stimulated an increase in nitric oxide production, inducible nitric-oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA, and iNOS protein. Mechanical strain suppressed nitric oxide production, iNOS mRNA, and iNOS protein stimulated by cytokines in an amplitude-dependent manner. Losartan (1 microM), an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist, weakly inhibited the effect of strain, suggesting that paracrine angiotensin II is not the mediator of the strain effect. In addition, cycloheximide (10 microM), a protein synthesis inhibitor, inhibited the effect of strain by 46%. Transforming growth factor-beta (1 ng/ml) suppressed iNOS mRNA expression, but anti-transforming growth factor-beta antibody (30 microg/ml) did not block the effect of strain. In contrast, staurosporine (100 nM; a nonselective protein kinase inhibitor), calphostin C (1 microM; a selective protein kinase C inhibitor), and pretreatment with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate abolished the effect of strain. Genistein (100 microM), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, partially inhibited the effect of strain. Thus, cyclic mechanical deformation suppresses cytokine-induced iNOS expression in cardiac myocytes, and this effect is mediated at least partially via activation of protein kinase C.

Animals↗

Neuregulins promote survival and growth of cardiac myocytes. Persistence of ErbB2 and ErbB4 expression in neonatal and adult ventricular myocytes.

Neuregulins (i.e. neuregulin-1 (NRG1), also called neu differentiation factor, heregulin, glial growth factor, and acetylcholine receptor-inducing activity) are known to induce growth and differentiation of epithelial, glial, neuronal, and skeletal muscle cells. Unexpectedly, mice with loss of function mutations of NRG1 or of either of two of their cognate receptors, ErbB2 and ErbB4, die during midembryogenesis due to the aborted development of myocardial trabeculae in ventricular muscle. To examine the role of NRG and their receptors in developing and postnatal myocardium, we studied the ability of a soluble NRG1 (recombinant human glial growth factor 2) to promote proliferation, survival, and growth of isolated neonatal and adult rat cardiac myocytes. Both ErbB2 and ErbB4 receptors were found to be expressed by neonatal and adult ventricular myocytes and activated by rhGGF2. rhGGF2 (30 ng/ml) provoked an approximate 2-fold increase in embryonic cardiac myocyte proliferation. rhGGF2 also promoted survival and inhibited apoptosis of subconfluent, serum-deprived myocyte primary cultures and also induced hypertrophic growth in both neonatal and adult ventricular myocytes, which was accompanied by enhanced expression of prepro-atrial natriuretic factor and skeletal alpha-actin. Moreover, NRG1 mRNA could be detected in coronary microvascular endothelial cell primary cultures prepared from adult rat ventricular muscle. NRG1 expression in these cells was increased by endothelin-1, another locally acting cardiotropic peptide within the heart. The persistent expression of both a neuregulin and its cognate receptors in the postnatal and adult heart suggests a continuing role for neuregulins in the myocardial adaption to physiologic stress or injury.

Aging↗

Regulation of cardiac myocyte contractile function by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS): mechanisms of contractile depression by nitric oxide.

Inflammatory cytokines have been implicated in the reversible depression of cardiac contractile function accompanying local or systemic immune stimulation. Incubation of cardiac myocytes with soluble components in the supernatant from cultured rat lung macrophages activated with endotoxin decreases their contractile response to beta-adrenergic stimulation through the induction of iNOS and the subsequent production of nitric oxide by these cells. In the present study, we characterize the mechanisms underlying NO's attenuation of adrenergic responsiveness in cardiac myocytes. iNOS was induced in cultured ventricular myocytes from adult rats by incubation for 20 h with conditioned medium from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages. iNOS induction did not induce any alteration in beta-adrenergic receptor density or affinity, Galphai protein abundance, or adenylyl cyclase activity in cultured myocytes. Myocyte exposure to activated macrophage-conditioned medium markedly attenuated the elevation of cAMP in response to isoproterenol (Iso, 2 nM). Induction of iNOS with the macrophage-conditioned medium also potentiated the Iso-induced increase in myocyte cGMP. This cGMP increase was totally abolished by NOS inhibitors. NOS inhibition also returned the attenuated cAMP response to 2 nM Iso to levels observed in control cells. Pre-incubation of the cells in isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX), a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, also partly reversed the attenuation of cAMP increase with 2 nM Iso in cells expressing iNOS. Brief (15 min) exposure of myocytes to the NO donor, S-nitrosoacetylcysteine (SNAC, 100 micro M) which produced a three-fold increase in intracellular cGMP, also decreased by half the contractile response of cardiac myocytes to Iso (2 nM). We conclude that NO endogenously produced by iNOS decreases the intracellular levels of cAMP in response to beta-adrenergic stimulation in isolated cardiac myocytes, in part through a cGMP-mediated mechanism. This effect may participate in the NO-dependent depression of cardiac function following cytokine exposure.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗

Reversible S-nitrosation of creatine kinase by nitric oxide in adult rat ventricular myocytes.

We have previously demonstrated that the nitric oxide (NO) donor S-nitroso-N-acetylcysteine (SNAC) reversibly decreases the activity of creatine kinase (CK) in an isolated rat heart preparation, markedly suppressing myocardial contractile responsiveness to an inotropic challenge. We wished to further examine the role of exogenous and endogenous sources of NO species on S-nitrosation of CK and subsequent enzyme activity in adult rat ventricular myocytes (ARVM). Two S-nitrosothiol groups were formed in the CK dimer after nitrosation of rabbit skeletal muscle CK in solution. CK inactivation due to S-nitrosation was time- and concentration-dependent in solution and in ARVM lysate for both NO donors S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) and SNAC, and was rapidly reversible with the sulfhydryl dithiothreitol (DTT). Similarly, SNAC or SNAP dose-dependently decreased CK activity in intact ARVM, which was further attenuated by increasing the metabolic activity of the cells with electrical pacing for 1 h. Co-cultures of ARVM with interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta)- and interferon gamma (IFN gamma)-pretreated cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMEC) caused no detectable decline in myocyte CK activity. Increasing GSH levels attenuated the decline in myocyte CK activity with SNAC, while decreases in myocyte GSH levels enhanced the inhibitory effect of SNAC on intact myocyte CK activity. These data indicate that the degree of inhibition of cardiac myocyte CK by NO is dependent on the extent of myocyte metabolic activity and the intracellular GSH content.

Acetylcysteine↗

Human ventricular myocytes in vitro exhibit both early and delayed preconditioning responses to simulated ischemia.

Myocardial tissue has been demonstrated to exhibit, in response to brief periods of ischemia, both an immediate period of cytoprotection [i.e. early or "first window" preconditioning response (EPR)], and a later period of cytoprotection [i.e. delayed or "second window" preconditioning response (DPR)], when exposed to a subsequent prolonged hypoxic insult. EPR has been documented in vitro in isolated cardiac myocytes, as well as in situ in intact hearts or trabeculae, for a number of vertebrate species, including humans. However, there are no reports to date of DPR in human cardiac myocytes. To address this question, human ventricular myocytes (HVM) primary isolates were prepared from fetal ventricular muscle, grown to confluency, and studied in primary culture in serum-free medium (> 90%) ventricular myocytes as determined by immunohistochemical analysis with an anti-myosin chain antibody). Using cell viability as determined by trypan blue exclusion, an EPR response could readily be detected following 15, 30, or 60 min of simulated ischemia (SI) in a hypoxic (< 1 tau pO2) buffer containing 11 mmol/l 2-deoxyglucose, followed by a prolonged (c. 17 h) SI challenge. In addition, HVM exposed to 60 min of SI, followed after 24 h by a period of SI, also exhibited a "second window" DPR (80 +/- 10% compared to 71 +/- 11% survival, in preconditioned and non-preconditioned cultures; P < 0.05; n = 18 independent experiments). Thus, in response to short periods of SI, human ventricular myocytes in vitro exhibit both "first window" and "second window" cytoprotective responses to subsequent, prolonged ischemic stress.

Analysis of Variance↗

Role of AT1 and AT2 receptors in regulation of MAPKs and MKP-1 by ANG II in adult cardiac myocytes.

ANG II has been implicated in the hypertrophic response in ventricular myocytes by acting at the angiotensin type 1 (AT1) receptor. However, the role of the angiotensin type 2 (AT2) receptor in the adult heart is not as clearly understood. In adult rat ventricular myocytes (ARVM) and cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMEC), we examined the role of ANG II signaling, via AT1 and AT2 receptors, on the activation of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases (ERKs) and on the expression of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphatase MKP-1. ANG II caused no detectable increase in ERK activity or in c-fos mRNA abundance in ARVM but increased ERK activity within 5 min in CMEC and increased c-fos mRNA levels. However, in the presence of the selective phosphoprotein phosphatase (PP-2A/PP-1) inhibitor okadaic acid (OA), a sustained increase in ERK activity, as well as in c-jun NH2-terminal protein kinase activity, in ARVM was observed. ANG II increased MKP-1 mRNA levels within 15 min in ARVM and CMEC. In contrast to the response in endothelial cells, however, ANG II activation of MKP-1 in ARVM was mediated by AT2-receptor activation. Thus there is constitutive as well as inducible suppression of ERKs and c-jun NH2-terminal protein kinases by MKP and PP-2A/PP-1 in the adult cardiac myocyte phenotype.

Angiotensin II↗