Background: Transcriptional reconfiguration is central to heart failure, the common cause of which is dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). However, the impact of three-dimensional (3D) chromatin topology on transcriptional dysregulation and pathogenesis in human DCM remains elusive. Methods: We generated a compendium of 3D-epigenome and transcriptome maps from 101 biobanked human DCM and non-failing heart tissues through HiChIP (H3K27ac), in situ Hi-C, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq and RNA-seq profiling. We employed human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) and mouse models to further interrogate the key transcription factor implicated in 3D chromatin organization and transcriptional regulation in DCM pathogenesis. Results: We discovered that the active regulatory elements (H3K27ac peaks) and their connectome (H3K27ac loops) were extensively reprogrammed in DCM hearts and contributed to transcriptional dysregulation implicated for DCM development. For example, we identified that non-transcribing NPPA-AS1 promoter functions as an enhancer and physically interacts with the NPPA and NPPB promoters, leading to the co-transcription of NPPA and NPPB in DCM hearts. We uncovered that DCM-enriched H3K27ac loops largely resided in conserved high-order chromatin architectures (Compartments, Topologically Associating Domains) and unexpectedly their anchors had equivalent chromatin accessibility. Intriguingly, we discovered that the DCM-enriched H3K27ac loop anchors exhibited a strong enrichment for Heart and Neural Crest Derivatives Expressed 1 (HAND1), a key transcription factor involved in early cardiogenesis. In line with this, its protein expression was upregulated in human DCM and mouse failing hearts. To further validate whether HAND1 is a causal driver for the reprogramming of enhancer/promoter connectome in DCM hearts, we performed comprehensive 3D epigenome mappings in hiPSC-CMs. We found that forced overexpression of HAND1 in hiPSC-CM induced a distinct gain of enhancer/promoter connectivity and, correspondingly, increased the expression of their connected genes implicated in DCM etiology, thus recapitulating the transcriptional signature in human DCM hearts. Moreover, electrophysiology analysis demonstrated that forced overexpression of HAND1 in hiPSC-CM induced abnormal calcium handling. Furthermore, cardiomyocyte-specific overexpression of Hand1 in the mouse hearts resulted in a dilated cardiac remodeling with impaired contractility/Ca 2+ handling in cardiomyocytes, increased ratio of heart weight/body weight and compromised cardiac function, which were ascribed to recapitulation of transcriptional reprogramming in DCM. Conclusions: This study provided novel chromatin topology insights into DCM pathogenesis and illustrated a model whereby a single transcription factor (HAND1) reprograms the genome-wide enhancer/promoter connectome to drive DCM pathogenesis.
Liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) is a biochemical process in cells that can drive proteins, RNA, and other molecules to concentrate into droplets. These droplets do not have a lipid membrane but rather exist as distinct organelles relative to the surrounding environment, and act as biochemical reaction chambers. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the study of LLPS, especially in the neurodegenerative disease, cancer, and virology fields, but little is known about LLPS in cardiovascular disease (CVD). In this review, we discuss the current understanding of the mechanism and biological functions of LLPS, particularly its roles in regulating CVD.
Background: Myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is still a major challenge in clinical treatment. The role of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in the regulation of myocardial I/R injury still needs to be elucidated.Methods: The primary isolated neonatal mousse cardiomyocytes and adult mice were used to construct a myocardial ischemia-reperfusion model. qRT-PCR is used to verify gene expression in myocardial tissue and myocardial cells. The effect of AK035396 in primary cardiomyocytes and mouse myocardium was confirmed by TUNEL staining and in vitro flow cytometry experiments. RNA pulldown and Western blot were used to identify AK035396 interacting proteins. The expression of apoptosis-related proteins was identified by qRT-PCR and Western blot.Results:In vivo and in vitro MIRI models, AK035396 was up-regulated after myocardial infarction. Functional studies have shown that knockdown of AK035396 reduces the apoptosis of primary cardiomyocytes and mouse myocardial tissue. AK035396 directly interacts with Mterf1 and inhibits the level of Mterf1. Further experiments have shown that inhibiting Mterf1 will promote the expression of mitochondrial genes COXII and CYTb and cause cell apoptosis.Conclusion: AK035396 plays an important role in myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury by regulating the Mterf1-COXII/CYTb pathway.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.