Du Xianfeng, Liu Ting, Shen Caijie, He Bin, Feng Mingjun, Liu Jing, Zhuo Weidong, Fu Guohua, Wang Binhao, Xu Yanyan, Chu Huimin
Arrhythmia Center, Department of Cardiology, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo, 315010, China.
Department of Nephrology, Ningbo Urology and Nephrology Hospital, Ningbo, 315000, China.
Cell Death Discov. 2022 May 4;8(1):246. doi: 10.1038/s41420-022-00895-9.
Atrial fibrosis occurs frequently with structural heart disease and is considered as a major cause of arrhythmia. Microarray-based profiling predicted the differential expression of SPP1 in atrial fibrosis. Herein, we aimed to analyze the role of shRNA-mediated SPP1 knockdown in the progression of atrial fibrosis as well as the downstream mechanism. In vivo model in mice and in vitro HL-1 cell model of atrial fibrosis were developed by the angiotensin II (Ang II) method, where SPP1 expression was validated by RT-qPCR. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments were performed in Ang II-induced mice and HL-1 cells to evaluate the effect of the SPP1/TGF-β/SREBP2/PCSK9 axis on cell viability, apoptosis, collagen production and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage in atrial fibrosis. Expression of SPP1, TGF-β, SREBP2 and PCSK9 was increased in Ang II-induced mice and HL-1 cells. Silencing of SPP1 inhibited the occurrence of atrial fibrosis, as reflected by attenuated cell viability and collagen production as well as increased cell apoptosis. Conversely, upregulated SPP1 enhanced atrial fibrosis, which was related to upregulation of TGF-β. In addition, TGF-β elevated the expression of SREBP2, which promoted mtDNA damage and the consequent atrial fibrosis by augmenting the expression of PCSK9. This study uncovers previously unrecognized pro-fibrotic activities of SPP1 in atrial fibrosis, which is achieved through activation of the TGF-β/SREBP2/PCSK9 signaling pathway and promotion of mtDNA damage.
心房纤维化常与结构性心脏病同时发生,被认为是心律失常的主要原因。基于微阵列的分析预测了SPP1在心房纤维化中的差异表达。在此,我们旨在分析shRNA介导的SPP1基因敲低在心房纤维化进展中的作用及其下游机制。通过血管紧张素II(Ang II)方法建立了小鼠体内模型和心房纤维化的体外HL-1细胞模型,通过RT-qPCR验证了SPP1的表达。在Ang II诱导的小鼠和HL-1细胞中进行了功能获得和功能丧失实验,以评估SPP1/TGF-β/SREBP2/PCSK9轴对心房纤维化中细胞活力、凋亡、胶原蛋白产生和线粒体DNA(mtDNA)损伤的影响。在Ang II诱导的小鼠和HL-1细胞中,SPP1、TGF-β、SREBP2和PCSK9的表达增加。SPP1的沉默抑制了心房纤维化的发生,表现为细胞活力和胶原蛋白产生减弱以及细胞凋亡增加。相反,上调SPP1增强了心房纤维化,这与TGF-β的上调有关。此外,TGF-β提高了SREBP2的表达,通过增加PCSK9的表达促进了mtDNA损伤及随后的心房纤维化。本研究揭示了SPP1在心房纤维化中以前未被认识的促纤维化活性,这是通过激活TGF-β/SREBP2/PCSK9信号通路和促进mtDNA损伤实现的。