Prior studies have demonstrated that fibroblast growth factor receptor-3 (FGFR-3) regulates proliferation of undifferentiated intestinal epithelial cells in vitro. However, the function(s) of FGFR-3-mediated signaling during intestinal development and epithelial differentiation in vivo remain unknown. The goal of this study was to define the temporal, regional, and cell-specific patterns of FGFR-3 expression and its ligands during normal intestinal ontogeny and epithelial regeneration. Both the IIIb and IIIc isoforms of FGFR-3 mRNA, which result from differential splicing of the FGFR-3 primary transcript, were detected in mouse small intestine as early as embryonic day 16. FGFR-3 levels peaked in the small intestine from 7 to 21 days after birth and decreased thereafter to reach the low levels observed in adult mice. FGFR-3 IIIb and IIIc mRNA levels were highest in the duodenum and proximal jejunum with lower levels of both seen in the distal jejunum, ileum, and colon. FGFR-3 was expressed in a subset of proliferating undifferentiated crypt epithelial cells located in the intervillous epithelium and in the lower half of nascently forming crypts but not in differentiated epithelial cell types. FGFR-3 IIIb was the dominant isoform expressed in both small intestinal and colonic crypts. Expression of FGF1, FGF2, and FGF9, known ligands of FGFR-3, paralleled patterns of FGFR-3 expression during gut development. These data suggest that signaling through FGFR-3 plays a role in regulating morphogenic events involved in formation of intestinal crypts and/or the fate of epithelial stem cells.
Fibroblast growth factor receptor-3 (FGFR-3Despite the critical importance of Paneth cells in maintaining gut homeostasis, knowledge of the pathways regulating Paneth cell differentiation and function has only recently begun to emerge. Studies using transgenic mice or mice with targeted mutations in epithelial regulatory genes, including components of the Wnt signaling pathway (Tcf4, Fz5, Sox9, and Apc), FGFR-3, and PPAR/␦, have identified these genes as key regulators of Paneth cell differentiation and expression of defensin peptides in vivo (9 -14). However, the lack of an adequate intestinal epithelial cell culture system that can recapitulate features of Paneth cell differentiation and maturation has hampered direct investigation of how these signaling pathways may interact in regulating Paneth cell differentiation and functional maturation.We recently reported that signaling through FGFR-3 in crypt epithelial cells regulates both the number of epithelial stem cells and Paneth cell differentiation during postnatal gut development (13,15). FGFR-3 is highly expressed along the membranes of cells in the lower portion of the crypt in the developing mouse intestine (15). FGFRs are members of the receptor-tyrosine kinase family. Ligand binding induces dimerization, autophosphorylation, and initiation of a signal transduction cascade that ultimately results in modification of gene expression. Ligands for FGFR-3, FGF1, FGF2, and FGF9, are up-regulated in the postnatal murine small intestine from birth through the suckling weaning transition, when crypt mor-
Rationale: Endogenously cycling adult cardiomyocytes (CMs) increase after myocardial infarction (MI) but remain scare, and are generally thought not to contribute to myocardial function. However, this broadly held assumption has not been tested, mainly because of the lack of transgenic reporters that restrict Cre expression to adult CMs that reenter the cell cycle. Objective: We created and validated a new transgenic mouse, αMHC-MerDreMer-Ki67p-RoxedCre::Rox-Lox-tdTomato-eGFP (denoted αDKRC) that restricts Cre expression to cycling adult CMs and uniquely integrates spatial and temporal adult CM cycling events based on the DNA specificities of orthologous Dre- and Cre recombinases. We then created mice that expressed an inducible Diphtheria toxin (DTA), αDKRC::DTA mice, in adult cycling CMs and examined the effects of ablating these endogenously cycling CMs on myocardial function after Ischemic-Reperfusion (I/R) MI. Methods and Results: A tandem αDKRC transgene was designed, validated in cultured cells, and used to make transgenic mice. The αDKRC transgene integrated between MYH6 and MYH7 and did not disrupt expression of the surrounding genes. Compared to controls, αDKRC::RLTG mice treated with Tamoxifen expressed tdTomato+ in CMs with rare Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)+, eGFP+ CMs, consistent with reentry of the cell cycle. We then pre-treated αDKRC::RLTG mice with Tamoxifen to activate the reporter before sham or reperfusion (I/R) myocardial infarction (MI) surgeries. Compared to Sham surgery, the I/R MI group had increased single and paired eGFP+ CMs predominantly in the border zones (5.8 {plus minus} 0.5 vs. 3.3 {plus minus} 0.3 CMs per ten-micron section, N = 8-9 mice per group, n = 16-24 sections per mouse), indicative of cycled CMs. The single to paired eGFP+ CM ratio was ~9 to 1 (5.2 {plus minus} 0.4 single vs. 0.6 {plus minus} 0.2 paired CMs) in the I/R MI group after MI, suggesting that cycling CMs were more likely to undergo polyploidy than replication. The ablation of endogenously cycling adult CMs in αDKRC::DTA mice caused progressive worsening left ventricular chamber size and function after I/R MI, compared to controls. Conclusions: Although scarce, endogenously cycling adult CMs contribute to myocardial function after injury, suggesting that these cells may be physiologically relevant.
BACKGROUND: DYRK1a (dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1a) contributes to the control of cycling cells, including cardiomyocytes. However, the effects of inhibition of DYRK1a on cardiac function and cycling cardiomyocytes after myocardial infarction (MI) remain unknown. METHODS: We investigated the impacts of pharmacological inhibition and conditional genetic ablation of DYRK1a on endogenous cardiomyocyte cycling and left ventricular systolic function in ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) MI using αMHC - MerDreMer-Ki67p-RoxedCre::Rox-Lox-tdTomato-eGFP ( RLTG ) (denoted αDKRC::RLTG ) and αMHC-Cre::Fucci2aR::DYRK1a flox/flox mice. RESULTS: We observed that harmine, an inhibitor of DYRK1a, improved left ventricular ejection fraction (39.5±1.6% and 29.1±1.6%, harmine versus placebo, respectively), 2 weeks after I/R MI. Harmine also increased cardiomyocyte cycling after I/R MI in αDKRC::RLTG mice, 10.8±1.5 versus 24.3±2.6 enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein (eGFP)+ cardiomyocytes, placebo versus harmine, respectively, P =1.0×10 − 3 . The effects of harmine on left ventricular ejection fraction were attenuated in αDKRC::DTA mice that expressed an inducible diphtheria toxin in adult cycling cardiomyocytes. The conditional cardiomyocyte-specific genetic ablation of DYRK1a in αMHC-Cre::Fucci2aR::DYRK1a flox/flox (denoted DYRK1a k/o ) mice caused cardiomyocyte hyperplasia at baseline (210±28 versus 126±5 cardiomyocytes per 40× field, DYRK1a k/o versus controls, respectively, P =1.7×10 − 2 ) without changes in cardiac function compared with controls, or compensatory changes in the expression of other DYRK isoforms. After I/R MI, DYRK1a k/o mice had improved left ventricular function (left ventricular ejection fraction 41.8±2.2% and 26.4±0.8%, DYRK1a k/o versus control, respectively, P =3.7×10 −2 ). RNAseq of cardiomyocytes isolated from αMHC-Cre::Fucci2aR::DYRK1a flox/flox and αMHC-Cre::Fucci2aR mice after I/R MI or Sham surgeries identified enrichment in mitotic cell cycle genes in αMHC-Cre::Fucci2aR::DYRK1a flox/flox compared with αMHC-Cre::Fucci2aR . CONCLUSIONS: The pharmacological inhibition or cardiomyocyte-specific ablation of DYRK1a caused baseline hyperplasia and improved cardiac function after I/R MI, with an increase in cell cycle gene expression, suggesting the inhibition of DYRK1a may serve as a therapeutic target to treat MI.
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