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Inhibition of cardiac late sodium current (late I Na ) is a strategy to suppress arrhythmias and sodium-dependent calcium overload associated with myocardial ischemia and heart failure. Current inhibitors of late I Na are unselective and can be proarrhythmic. This study introduces GS967 (6-[4-(trifluoromethoxy), a potent and selective inhibitor of late I Na , and demonstrates its effectiveness to suppress ventricular arrhythmias. The effects of GS967 on rabbit ventricular myocyte ion channel currents and action potentials were determined. Anti-arrhythmic actions of GS967 were characterized in ex vivo and in vivo rabbit models of reduced repolarization reserve and ischemia. GS967 inhibited Anemonia sulcata toxin II (ATX-II)-induced late I Na in ventricular myocytes and isolated hearts with IC 50 values of 0.13 and 0.21 mM, respectively. Reduction of peak I Na by GS967 was minimal at a holding potential of 2120 mV but increased at 280 mV. GS967 did not prolong action potential duration or the QRS interval. GS967 prevented and reversed proarrhythmic effects (afterdepolarizations and torsades de pointes) of the late I Na enhancer ATX-II and the I Kr inhibitor E-4031 in isolated ventricular myocytes and hearts. GS967 significantly attenuated the proarrhythmic effects of methoxamine1clofilium and suppressed ischemiainduced arrhythmias. GS967 was more potent and effective to reduce late I Na and arrhythmias than either flecainide or ranolazine. Results of all studies and assays of binding and activity of GS967 at numerous receptors, transporters, and enzymes indicated that GS967 selectively inhibited late I Na . In summary, GS967 selectively suppressed late I Na and prevented and/or reduced the incidence of experimentally induced arrhythmias in rabbit myocytes and hearts.

The human gut microbiota impacts host metabolism and has been implicated in the pathophysiology of obesity and metabolic syndromes. However, defining the roles of specific microbial activities and metabolites on host phenotypes has proven challenging due to the complexity of the microbiome-host ecosystem. Here, we identify strains from the abundant gut bacterial phylum Bacteroidetes that display selective bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity. Using isogenic strains of wild-type and BSH-deleted Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, we selectively modulated the levels of the bile acid tauro-β-muricholic acid in monocolonized gnotobiotic mice. B. thetaiotaomicron BSH mutant-colonized mice displayed altered metabolism, including reduced weight gain and respiratory exchange ratios, as well as transcriptional changes in metabolic, circadian rhythm, and immune pathways in the gut and liver. Our results demonstrate that metabolites generated by a single microbial gene and enzymatic activity can profoundly alter host metabolism and gene expression at local and organism-level scales.

Interstitial fibrosis plays a key role in the development and progression of heart failure. Here, we show that an enzyme that crosslinks collagen—Lysyl oxidase-like 2 (Loxl2)—is essential for interstitial fibrosis and mechanical dysfunction of pathologically stressed hearts. In mice, cardiac stress activates fibroblasts to express and secrete Loxl2 into the interstitium, triggering fibrosis, systolic and diastolic dysfunction of stressed hearts. Antibody-mediated inhibition or genetic disruption of Loxl2 greatly reduces stress-induced cardiac fibrosis and chamber dilatation, improving systolic and diastolic functions. Loxl2 stimulates cardiac fibroblasts through PI3K/AKT to produce TGF-β2, promoting fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transformation; Loxl2 also acts downstream of TGF-β2 to stimulate myofibroblast migration. In diseased human hearts, LOXL2 is upregulated in cardiac interstitium; its levels correlate with collagen crosslinking and cardiac dysfunction. LOXL2 is also elevated in the serum of heart failure (HF) patients, correlating with other HF biomarkers, suggesting a conserved LOXL2-mediated mechanism of human HF.

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Protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes move upon activation from one intracellular site to another. PKC-binding proteins, such as receptors for activated C kinase (RACKs), play an important role in regulating the localization and diverse functions of PKC isozymes. RACK1, the receptor for activated ␤IIPKC, determines the localization and functional activity of ␤IIPKC. However, the mechanism by which RACK1 localizes activated ␤IIPKC is not known. Here, we provide evidence that the intracellular localization of RACK1 changes in response to PKC activation. In Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with the dopamine D2L receptor and in NG108-15 cells, PKC activation by either phorbol ester or a dopamine D2 receptor agonist caused the movement of RACK1. Moreover, PKC activation resulted in the in situ association and movement of RACK1 and ␤IIPKC to the same intracellular sites. Time course studies indicate that PKC activation induces the association of the two proteins prior to their co-movement. We further show that association of RACK1 and ␤IIPKC is required for the movement of both proteins. Our results suggest that RACK1 is a PKC shuttling protein that moves ␤IIPKC from one intracellular site to another.Specific intracellular localization of signaling proteins such as PKC 1 is important for the regulation of complex signal transduction cascades (1). PKC is a family of 10 isozymes that are localized to specific intracellular sites in unstimulated cells. Upon activation, each PKC isozyme moves to a different intracellular site (2). Localization of inactive or activated PKC isozymes is mediated, at least in part, by interaction with anchoring proteins (3, 4). For example, inactive PKC isozymes appear to be localized by binding to the scaffolding proteins AKAP-79 and gravin (5, 6). In contrast, activated PKC isozymes are localized by binding to receptors for activated C kinase (RACKs). RACK1 specifically binds the active form of ␤IIPKC (7, 8) thereby regulating PKC function (8 -12). In vitro, RACK1 binds PKC only in the presence of PKC activators and increases PKC kinase activity, presumably by stabilizing its active conformation (13). The RACK1 binding site on PKC is within the C2 region of the regulatory domain providing a direct protein-protein interaction (8). Indeed, RACK1 belongs to the WD40 family of proteins, and the WD40 motif is implicated in mediating protein-protein interactions (14). Furthermore, peptides derived from either PKC and/or RACK1 can alter PKC activity in vitro and in vivo (8,12,15,16).Although RACK1 binds activated PKC and is clearly important for PKC function, the mechanism by which RACK1 localizes ␤IIPKC to its site after activation is not understood. One prediction is that the anchoring protein RACK1 should always be localized to the same site that accepts ␤IIPKC after translocation. We therefore used confocal microscopy to determine whether RACK1 is co-localized with activated ␤IIPKC, whether RACK1 is localized to a specific organelle, and whether the intracellular localization of RACK1 changes...

Background Thioredoxin 2 (Trx2) is a key mitochondrial protein which regulates cellular redox and survival by suppressing mitochondrial ROS generation and by inhibiting apoptosis stress kinase-1 (ASK1)-dependent apoptotic signaling. To date, the role of the mitochondrial Trx2 system in heart failure pathogenesis has not been investigated. Methods and Results Western blot and histological analysis revealed that Trx2 protein expression levels were reduced in hearts from patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), with a concomitant increase in increased ASK1 phosphorylation/activity. Cardiac-specific Trx2 knockout mice (Trx2-cKO). Trx2-cKO mice develop spontaneous DCM at 1 month of age with increased heart size, reduced ventricular wall thickness, and a progressive decline in left ventricular (LV) contractile function, resulting in mortality due to heart failure by ~4 months of age. The progressive decline in cardiac function observed in Trx2-cKO mice was accompanied by disruption of mitochondrial ultrastructure, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, increased mitochondrial ROS generation and reduced ATP production, correlating with increased ASK1 signaling and increased cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Chronic administration of a highly selective ASK1 inhibitor improved cardiac phenotype and reduced maladaptive LV remodeling with significant reductions in oxidative stress, apoptosis, fibrosis and cardiac failure. Cellular data from Trx2-deficient cardiomyocytes demonstrated that ASK1 inhibition reduced apoptosis and reduced mitochondrial ROS generation. Conclusions Our data support an essential role for mitochondrial Trx2 in preserving cardiac function by suppressing mitochondrial ROS production and ASK1-dependent apoptosis. Inhibition of ASK1 represents a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure.