Department of Pharmacology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2012 Jan;204(1):110-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.2011.02309.x. Epub 2011 May 27.
Cardiac hypertrophy is an enlargement of the heart muscle in response to wall stress. This hypertrophic response often leads to heart failure. In recent years, several studies have shown the involvement of Wnt signalling in hypertrophic growth. In this review, the role of Wnt signalling and the possibilities for therapeutic interventions are discussed. In healthy adult heart tissue, Wnt signalling is very low. However, under pathological condition such as hypertension, Wnt signalling is activated. In recent years, it has become clear that both β-catenin-dependent signalling and β-catenin-independent signalling are involved in hypertrophic growth. Several studies, both in vitro and in vivo, have shown that genetic interventions in Wnt signalling at different levels resulted in an attenuated or diminished hypertrophic response. Therefore, inhibition of Wnt signalling could provide a new therapeutic strategy for cardiac hypertrophy, but further research on the Wnts and Frizzleds involved in the different forms of cardiac hypertrophy will be needed to achieve this goal.
心肌肥厚是心肌对壁应力的一种增大反应。这种肥厚反应常常导致心力衰竭。近年来，多项研究表明 Wnt 信号在心肌肥厚中起作用。在这篇综述中，讨论了 Wnt 信号的作用以及治疗干预的可能性。在健康成年人的心脏组织中，Wnt 信号非常低。然而，在高血压等病理条件下，Wnt 信号被激活。近年来，人们越来越清楚地认识到，β-连环蛋白依赖性信号和非β-连环蛋白依赖性信号都参与了心肌肥厚的生长。在体外和体内的多项研究表明，在不同水平上对 Wnt 信号进行遗传干预会导致心肌肥厚反应减弱或消失。因此，抑制 Wnt 信号可能为心肌肥厚提供一种新的治疗策略，但需要进一步研究不同形式的心肌肥厚中涉及的 Wnts 和 Frizzleds，以实现这一目标。
