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Study identifies molecule that limits excessive expansion of heart muscle cells

Date:
October 31, 2016
Source:
Osaka University
Summary:
A research team has identified a protein that stops heart muscle cells from increasing in size when the heart is under stress, representing a candidate for treating a range of heart diseases.
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Research team centered at Osaka University identifies a protein that stops heart muscle cells from increasing in size when the heart is under stress, representing a candidate for treating a range of heart diseases.

When the heart is subjected to stress, such as high blood pressure, it responds by expanding, both at the level of the whole organ or some of its chambers, and at the level of single cells. Although the swelling of heart muscle cells, called cardiomyocytes, has been investigated, understanding of the molecular mechanisms that promote and inhibit this has remained limited. Researchers centered at Osaka University have now identified a protein that restrains the speeding up of activity and expansion of cells that usually occur under stressful conditions. This novel finding explains how establishment of oversized cells can be prevented in heart muscle, which could lead to treatments to limit heart expansion that has been linked to heart failure.

Cardiac hypertrophy is when the heart muscle is placed under higher stress than normal and needs to develop greater bulk to deal with this. At the cellular level, cardiomyocytes are induced to increase size by speeding up production of proteins and other components. The production line from genes to proteins includes the intermediate of RNA, which forms an extra regulatory level determining the overall composition of proteins within a cell. Therefore, to understand the swelling of cardiomyocytes under stressful conditions due to increased production of proteins, it is necessary to clarify the overall regulation of RNA within these cells.

A new study by researchers centered at Osaka University has provided a major advance in this field by identifying the protein Btg2 as a global regulator of RNA within cardiomyocytes. By performing imaging of single cells, the induction of excessive expression of this protein within stressed cardiac tissue was found to reduce the size of cardiomyocytes, showing that Btg2 is a factor that limits cardiac hypertrophy.

"We first focused on the targets of the protein Myc, which is known to increase the size and anabolic activity of cardiomyocytes," corresponding author Shuichiro Higo says. "We found that Btg2 was especially strongly induced by Myc, but that these two proteins had opposite effects on the level of RNA in these cells. This suggests they are on opposing sides of a system regulating protein production and cell size."

Application of single-cell imaging in this study enabled the team to identify where Btg2 was active within the cell, which was combined with functional analysis to determine the mechanisms by which it induced a reduction in global RNA level. The findings showed that Btg2 interacts with cellular machinery that breaks down RNA, which explains its association with reduced protein production and, thus, smaller cells.

"We now have a much better understanding of the mechanisms by which heart cells can not only expand in response to stress, but also limit this expansion," Higo says. "We may be able to harness these mechanisms to reduce some of the problems associated with long-term cardiac hypertrophy and heart disease."

The article "Btg2 is a Negative Regulator of Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy through a Decrease in Cytosolic RNA" was published in Scientific Reports.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Osaka University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Yuki Masumura, Shuichiro Higo, Yoshihiro Asano, Hisakazu Kato, Yi Yan, Saki Ishino, Osamu Tsukamoto, Hidetaka Kioka, Takaharu Hayashi, Yasunori Shintani, Satoru Yamazaki, Tetsuo Minamino, Masafumi Kitakaze, Issei Komuro, Seiji Takashima, Yasushi Sakata. Btg2 is a Negative Regulator of Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy through a Decrease in Cytosolic RNA. Scientific Reports, 2016; 6: 28592 DOI: 10.1038/srep28592

Cite This Page:

Osaka University. "Study identifies molecule that limits excessive expansion of heart muscle cells." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 31 October 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161031085932.htm>.
Osaka University. (2016, October 31). Study identifies molecule that limits excessive expansion of heart muscle cells. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161031085932.htm
Osaka University. "Study identifies molecule that limits excessive expansion of heart muscle cells." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161031085932.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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