Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Ke Xue Da Dao 100, Zheng Zhou, 450001, China.
The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2023 Jan 24;80(2):50. doi: 10.1007/s00018-023-04699-7.
The transdifferentiation from cardiac fibroblasts to myofibroblasts is an important event in the initiation of cardiac fibrosis. However, the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. Circ-sh3rf3 (circular RNA SH3 domain containing Ring Finger 3) is a novel circular RNA which was induced in hypertrophied ventricles by isoproterenol hydrochloride, and our work has established that it is a potential regulator in cardiac hypertrophy, but whether circ-sh3rf3 plays a role in cardiac fibrosis remains unclear, especially in the conversion of cardiac fibroblasts into myofibroblasts. Here, we found that circ-sh3rf3 was down-regulated in isoproterenol-treated rat cardiac fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes as well as during fibroblast differentiation into myofibroblasts. We further confirmed that circ-sh3rf3 could interact with GATA-4 proteins and reduce the expression of GATA-4, which in turn abolishes GATA-4 repression of miR-29a expression and thus up-regulates miR-29a expression, thereby inhibiting fibroblast-myofibroblast differentiation and myocardial fibrosis. Our work has established a novel Circ-sh3rf3/GATA-4/miR-29a regulatory cascade in fibroblast-myofibroblast differentiation and myocardial fibrosis, which provides a new therapeutic target for myocardial fibrosis.
心脏成纤维细胞向肌成纤维细胞的转分化是心脏纤维化发生的重要事件。然而,其潜在机制尚不完全清楚。Circ-sh3rf3(含 SH3 结构域的环状 RNA 3)是一种新型环状 RNA,它可被盐酸异丙肾上腺素诱导在肥厚的心室中表达,我们的工作已经证实它是心肌肥厚的潜在调节因子,但 circ-sh3rf3 是否在心脏纤维化中发挥作用仍不清楚,特别是在心脏成纤维细胞向肌成纤维细胞的转化过程中。在这里,我们发现 circ-sh3rf3 在异丙肾上腺素处理的大鼠心脏成纤维细胞和心肌细胞中以及成纤维细胞向肌成纤维细胞分化过程中均下调。我们进一步证实 circ-sh3rf3 可以与 GATA-4 蛋白相互作用并降低 GATA-4 的表达,从而消除 GATA-4 对 miR-29a 表达的抑制作用,从而上调 miR-29a 的表达,从而抑制成纤维细胞向肌成纤维细胞分化和心肌纤维化。我们的工作建立了一个新的 Circ-sh3rf3/GATA-4/miR-29a 调节级联在成纤维细胞向肌成纤维细胞分化和心肌纤维化中,为心肌纤维化提供了一个新的治疗靶点。