To investigate the role of age of human pediatric cardiac progenitor cells (hCPCs) on ventricular remodeling, the authors injected neonate, infant, or child hCPCs into rats with right ventricular heart failure. Mechanisms including migration and proliferation assays, as suggested by computational modeling, showed improved chemotactic and proliferative capacity of neonatal hCPCs compared with infant or child hCPCs. Thus, the reparative potential of hCPCs is age-dependent.
Understanding developmental changes in contractility is critical to improving therapies for young cardiac patients. Isometric developed force was measured in human ventricular muscle strips from two age groups: newborns (Ͻ2 wk) and infants (3-14 mo) undergoing repair for congenital heart defects. Muscle strips were paced at several cycle lengths (CLs) to determine the force frequency response (FFR). Changes in Na/Ca exchanger (NCX), sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase (SERCA), and phospholamban (PLB) were characterized. At CL 2000 ms, developed force was similar in the two groups. Decreasing CL increased developed force in the infant group to 131 Ϯ 8% (CL 1000 ms) and 157 Ϯ 18% (CL 500 ms) demonstrating a positive FFR. The FFR in the newborn group was flat. NCX mRNA and protein levels were significantly larger in the newborn than infant group whereas SERCA levels were unchanged. PLB mRNA levels and PLB/SERCA ratio increased with age. Immunostaining for NCX in isolated newborn cells showed peripheral staining. In infant cells, NCX was also found in T-tubules. SERCA staining was regular and striated in both groups. This study shows for the first time that the newborn human ventricle has a flat FFR, which increases with age and may be caused by developmental changes in calcium handling. (Pediatr Res 65: 414-419, 2009)
Protein kinase C (PKC) and galectin-3 are two important mediators that play a key pathogenic role in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure (HF). However, the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways are not fully understood. In this study, we explored the relationship between and roles of PKC-α and galectin-3 in the development of HF. We found that activation of PKC by phorbol dibutyrate (PDB) increased galectin-3 expression by ~180%, as well as collagen I and fibronection accumulation in cultured HL-1 cardiomyocytes. Over-expression of galectin-3 in HL-1 cells increased collagen I protein production. Inhibition of galectin-3 by β-lactose blocked PDB-induced galectin-3 and collagen production, indicating that galectin-3 mediates PKC-induced cardiac fibrosis. In rats subjected to pulmonary artery banding (PAB) to induce right ventricular HF, galectin-3 was increased by ~140% in the right ventricle and also by ~240% in left ventricle compared to control. The elevated galectin-3 is consistent with an increase of total and activated (phosphorylated) PKC-α, α-SMA and collagen I. Finally, we extended our findings to examine the role of angiotensin II (Ang II), which activates the PKC pathway and contributes to cardiac fibrosis and the development of HF. We found that Ang II activated the PKC-α pathway and increased galectin-3 expression and collagen production. This study provides a new insight into the molecular mechanisms of HF mediated by PKC-α and galectin-3. PKC-α promotes cardiac fibrosis and HF by stimulation of galectin-3 expression.
Skeletal dysplasias (SDs) comprise a series of severe congenital disorders that have strong clinical heterogeneity and usually attribute to diverse genetic variations. The pathogenesis of more than half of SDs remains unclear. Additionally, the clinical manifestations of fetal SDs are ambiguous, which poses a big challenge for accurate diagnosis. In this study, eight unrelated families with fetal SD were recruited and subjected to sequential tests including chromosomal karyotyping, chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA), and trio whole-exome sequencing (WES). Sanger sequencing and quantitative fluorescence PCR (QF-PCR) were performed as affirmative experiments. In six families, a total of six pathogenic/likely pathogenic variations were identified in four genes including SLC26A2, FGFR3, FLNB, and TMEM38B. These variations caused disorders following autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive inheritance patterns, respectively. The results provided reliable evidence for the subsequent genetic counseling and reproductive options to these families. With its advantage in variation calling and interpreting, trio WES is a promising strategy for the investigation of fetal SDs in cases with normal karyotyping and CMA results. It has considerable prospects to be utilized in prenatal diagnosis.
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