Decorin is a member of the expanding group of widely distributed small leucine-rich proteoglycans that are expected to play important functions in tissue assembly. We report that mice harboring a targeted disruption of the decorin gene are viable but have fragile skin with markedly reduced tensile strength. Ultrastructural analysis revealed abnormal collagen morphology in skin and tendon, with coarser and irregular fiber outlines. Quantitative scanning transmission EM of individual collagen fibrils showed abrupt increases and decreases in mass along their axes, thereby accounting for the irregular outlines and size variability observed in cross-sections. The data indicate uncontrolled lateral fusion of collagen fibrils in the decorindeficient mice and provide an explanation for the reduced tensile strength of the skin. These findings demonstrate a fundamental role for decorin in regulating collagen fiber formation in vivo.

Background-In ventricular myocytes, the majority of structures that couple excitation to the systolic rise of Ca 2ϩ are located at the transverse tubular (t-tubule) membrane. In the failing ventricle, disorganization of t-tubules disrupts excitation contraction coupling. The t-tubule membrane is virtually absent in the atria of small mammals resulting in spatiotemporally distinct profiles of intracellular Ca 2ϩ release on stimulation in atrial and ventricular cells. The aims of this study were to determine (i) whether atrial myocytes from a large mammal (sheep) possess t-tubules, (ii) whether these are functionally important, and (iii) whether they are disrupted in heart failure. Methods and Results-Sheep left atrial myocytes were stained with di-4-ANEPPS. Nearly all control cells had an extensive t-tubule network resulting in each voxel in the cell being nearer to a membrane (sarcolemma or t-tubule) than would otherwise be the case. T-tubules decrease the distance of 50% of voxels from a membrane from 3.35Ϯ0.15 to 0.88Ϯ0.04 m. During depolarization, intracellular Ca 2ϩ rises simultaneously at the cell periphery and center. In heart failure induced by rapid ventricular pacing, there was an almost complete loss of atrial t-tubules. The distance of 50% of voxels from a membrane increased to 2.04Ϯ0.08 m, and there was a loss of early Ca 2ϩ release from the cell center. Conclusion-Sheep atrial myocytes possess a substantial t-tubule network that synchronizes the systolic Ca 2ϩ transient. In heart failure, this network is markedly disrupted. This may play an important role in changes of atrial function in heart failure. (Circ Heart Fail. 2009;2:482-489.)

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Non-technical summary Heart failure is where the heart is unable to pump sufficient blood in order to meet the requirements of the body. Symptoms of heart failure often first present during exercise. During exercise the blood levels of a hormone, noradrenaline, increase and activate receptors on the muscle cells of the heart known as β-receptors causing the heart to contract more forcefully. We show that in heart failure the response to β-receptor stimulation is reduced and this appears to be due to a failure of the β-receptor to signal correctly to downstream targets inside the cell. However, by-passing the β-receptor and directly activating one of the downstream targets, an enzyme known as adenylyl cyclase, inside the cell restores the function of the muscle cells in failing hearts. These observations provide a number of potential targets for therapies to improve the function of the heart in patients with heart failure.Abstract Reduced inotropic responsiveness is characteristic of heart failure (HF). This study determined the cellular Ca 2+ homeostatic and molecular mechanisms causing the blunted β-adrenergic (β-AR) response in HF. We induced HF by tachypacing in sheep; intracellular Ca 2+ concentration was measured in voltage-clamped ventricular myocytes. In HF, Ca 2+ transient amplitude and peak L-type Ca 2+ current (I Ca-L ) were reduced (to 70 ± 11% and 50 ± 3.7% of control, respectively, P < 0.05) whereas sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca 2+ content was unchanged. β-AR stimulation with isoprenaline (ISO) increased Ca 2+ transient amplitude, I Ca-L and SR Ca 2+ content in both cell types; however, the response of HF cells was markedly diminished (P < 0.05). Western blotting revealed an increase in protein phosphatase levels (PP1, 158 ± 17% and PP2A, 188 ± 34% of control, P < 0.05) and reduced phosphorylation of phospholamban in HF (Ser16, 30 ± 10% and Thr17, 41 ± 15% of control, P < 0.05). The β-AR receptor kinase GRK-2 was also increased in HF (173 ± 38% of control, P < 0.05). In HF, activation of adenylyl cyclase with forskolin rescued the Ca 2+ transient, SR Ca 2+ content and SR Ca 2+ uptake rate to the same levels as control cells in ISO. In conclusion, the reduced responsiveness of the myocardium to β-AR agonists in HF probably arises as a consequence of impaired phosphorylation of key intracellular proteins responsible for regulating the SR Ca 2+ content and therefore failure of the systolic Ca 2+ transient to increase appropriately during β-AR stimulation.

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Conventional approaches for ultrastructural high-resolution imaging of biological specimens induce profound changes in bio-molecular structures. By combining tissue cryo-sectioning with non-destructive atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging we have developed a methodology that may be applied by the non-specialist to both preserve and visualize bio-molecular structures (in particular extracellular matrix assemblies) in situ. This tissue section AFM technique is capable of: i) resolving nm–µm scale features of intra- and extracellular structures in tissue cryo-sections; ii) imaging the same tissue region before and after experimental interventions; iii) combining ultrastructural imaging with complimentary microscopical and micromechanical methods. Here, we employ this technique to: i) visualize the macro-molecular structures of unstained and unfixed fibrillar collagens (in skin, cartilage and intervertebral disc), elastic fibres (in aorta and lung), desmosomes (in nasal epithelium) and mitochondria (in heart); ii) quantify the ultrastructural effects of sequential collagenase digestion on a single elastic fibre; iii) correlate optical (auto fluorescent) with ultrastructural (AFM) images of aortic elastic lamellae.

Type X collagen is a short-chain homotrimeric collagen expressed in the hypertrophic zone of calcifying cartilage. The clustering of mutations in the carboxyl-terminal NC1 domain in Schmid metaphyseal chondrodysplasia (SMCD) suggested a critical role for this type X collagen domain, but since no direct analysis of cartilage has been conducted in SMCD patients, the mechanisms of type X collagen dysfunction remain controversial. To resolve this problem, we obtained SMCD growth plate cartilage, determined the type X collagen mutation, and analyzed the expression of mutant and normal type X collagen mRNA and protein. The mutation was a single nucleotide substitution that changed the Tyr632 codon (TAC) to a stop codon (TAA). However, analysis of the expression of the normal and mutant allele transcripts in growth plate cartilage by reverse transcription PCR, restriction enzyme mapping, and a single nucleotide primer extension assay, demonstrated that only normal mRNA was present. The lack of mutant mRNA is most likely the result of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, a common fate for transcripts carrying premature termination mutations. Furthermore, no mutant protein was detected by immunoblotting cartilage extracts. Our data indicates that a functionally null allele leading to type X collagen haploinsufficiency is the molecular basis of SMCD in this patient.

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