Specification and early patterning of the vertebrate heart are dependent on both canonical and noncanonical wingless (Wnt) signal pathways. However, the impact of each Wnt pathway on the later stages of myocardial development and differentiation remains controversial. Here, we report that the components of each Wnt signal conduit are expressed in the developing and postnatal heart, yet canonical/␤-catenin activity is restricted to nonmyocardial regions. Subsequently, we observed that noncanonical Wnt (Wnt11) enhanced myocyte differentiation while preventing stabilization of the ␤-catenin protein, suggesting active repression of canonical Wnt signals. Wnt11 stimulation was synonymous with activation of a caspase 3 signal cascade, while inhibition of caspase activity led to accumulation of ␤-catenin and a dramatic reduction in myocyte differentiation. Taken together, these results suggest that noncanonical Wnt signals promote myocyte maturation through caspasemediated inhibition of ␤-catenin activity.

Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy is the cellular response that mediates pathologic enlargement of the heart. This maladaptation is also characterized by cell behaviors that are typically associated with apoptosis, including cytoskeletal reorganization and disassembly, altered nuclear morphology, and enhanced protein synthesis/ translation. Here, we investigated the requirement of apoptotic caspase pathways in mediating cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Cardiomyocytes treated with hypertrophy agonists displayed rapid and transient activation of the intrinsic-mediated cell death pathway, characterized by elevated levels of caspase 9, followed by caspase 3 protease activity. Disruption of the intrinsic cell death pathway at multiple junctures led to a significant inhibition of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy during agonist stimulation, with a corresponding reduction in the expression of known hypertrophic markers (atrial natriuretic peptide) and transcription factor activity [myocyte enhancer factor-2, nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB)]. Similarly, in vivo attenuation of caspase activity via adenoviral expression of the biologic effector caspase inhibitor p35 blunted cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in response to agonist stimulation. Treatment of cardiomyocytes with procaspase 3 activating compound 1, a small-molecule activator of caspase 3, resulted in a robust induction of the hypertrophy response in the absence of any agonist stimulation. These results suggest that caspase-dependent signaling is necessary and sufficient to promote cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. These results also confirm that cell death signal pathways behave as active remodeling agents in cardiomyocytes, independent of inducing an apoptosis response.

Although cardiac hypertrophy is initially an adaptive response, chronic stress on the heart is a maladaptive process that inevitably leads to end-stage heart failure. Interestingly, this pathological process is also characterized by cell behaviors associated with apoptosis. We previously demonstrated the essential role of the intrinsic cell death pathway during cardiac hypertrophy; however, the caspase-dependent pathways and cleavage targets remain elusive. To this aim, we evaluated a myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) transcription factor inhibitor, histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3), and gelsolin as potential caspase cleavage substrates involved in the induction and/or maintenance of cardiac hypertrophy. In vitro cleavage assays were completed with effector caspase and recombinant substrate protein which demonstrated caspase-dependent cleavage. HDAC3 cleavage was observed during early stages of hypertrophy and reduced in the presence of a caspase inhibitor. Luciferase assays demonstrated that the transcriptional activity of MEF2 is dependent on intact caspase function suggesting caspase-directed HDAC3 cleavage may serve as a novel regulatory mechanism to alleviate MEF2 suppression to engage the hypertrophy gene expression program. Unlike HDAC3, caspase mediated gelsolin cleavage occurs at latter stages and is coincident with the cytoskeletal alterations that occur during this process. As gelsolin is a potent actin capping/severing enzyme, we hypothesize that caspase-mediated gelsolin activation acts as a key regulatory step in the structural rearrangements that allow for hypertrophy to occur. We have generated adenoviral vectors containing caspase cleavage mutants and cleaved forms of HDAC3 and gelsolin and will discuss the impact of these modified substrates on the hypertrophy process in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, this work suggests that caspase signalling acts to engage both the transcriptional program and cytoskeletal accommodations that characterize cardiac hypertrophy. Importantly, these observations suggest that identification of inhibitors that suppress caspase activity and/or activity of its cognate substrates may offer novel therapeutic targets to limit the development of pathological hypertrophy.