0000000000625684
AUTHOR
Gianluigi Condorelli
Adenoviral RB2/p130 gene transfer inhibits smooth muscle cell proliferation and prevents restenosis after angioplasty.
Abstract —Smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation that results in neointima formation is implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic plaques and accounts for the high rates of restenosis that occur after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, a widespread treatment for coronary artery disease. Endothelial lesions trigger intense proliferative signals to the SMCs of the subintima, stimulating their reentry into the cell cycle from a resting G 0 state, resulting in neointima formation and vascular occlusion. Cellular proliferation is negatively controlled by growth-regulatory or tumor-suppressor genes, or both, such as the retinoblastoma gene family members ( RB/p105, p107, RB2…
Catalyzing transcriptomics research in cardiovascular disease: The CardioRNA COST action CA17129
WOS: 000474931400001
Exome sequencing of a family with lone, autosomal dominant atrial flutter identifies a rare variation in ABCB4 significantly enriched in cases
Background Lone atrial flutter (AFL) and atrial fibrillation (AF) are common and sometimes consequential cardiac conduction disorders with a strong heritability, as underlined by recent genome-wide association studies that identified genetic modifiers. Follow-up family-based genetic analysis also identified Mendelian transmission of disease alleles. Three affected members were exome-sequenced for the identification of potential causative mutations, which were subsequently validated by direct sequencing in the other 3 affected members. Taqman assay was then used to confirm the role of any mutation in an independent population of sporadic lone AFL/AF cases. Results The family cluster analysis…
MiR-133 Modulates the β1Adrenergic Receptor Transduction Cascade.
Rationale : The sympathetic nervous system plays a fundamental role in the regulation of myocardial function. During chronic pressure overload, overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system induces the release of catecholamines, which activate β-adrenergic receptors in cardiomyocytes and lead to increased heart rate and cardiac contractility. However, chronic stimulation of β-adrenergic receptors leads to impaired cardiac function, and β-blockers are widely used as therapeutic agents for the treatment of cardiac disease. MicroRNA-133 (miR-133) is highly expressed in the myocardium and is involved in controlling cardiac function through regulation of messenger RNA translation/stability. …
Heart infarct in NOD-SCID mice: therapeutic vasculogenesis by transplantation of human CD34+ cells and low dose CD34+KDR+ cells
Hematopoietic (Hem) and endothelial (End) lineages derive from a common progenitor cell, the hemangioblast: specifically, the human cord blood (CB) CD34+KDR+ cell fraction comprises primitive Hem and End cells, as well as hemangioblasts. In humans, the potential therapeutic role of Hem and End progenitors in ischemic heart disease is subject to intense investigation. Particularly, the contribution of these cells to angiogenesis and cardiomyogenesis in myocardial ischemia is not well established. In our studies, we induced myocardial infarct (MI) in the immunocompromised NOD-SCID mouse model, and monitored the effects of myocardial transplantation of human CB CD34+ cells on cardiac function.…
Heart-targeted overexpression of caspase3 in mice increases infarct size and depresses cardiac function
Up-regulation of proapoptotic genes has been reported in heart failure and myocardial infarction. To determine whether caspase genes can affect cardiac function, a transgenic mouse was generated. Cardiac tissue-specific overexpression of the proapoptotic gene Caspase3 was induced by using the rat promoter of α-myosin heavy chain, a model that may represent a unique tool for investigating new molecules and antiapoptotic therapeutic strategies. Cardiac-specific Caspase3 expression induced transient depression of cardiac function and abnormal nuclear and myofibrillar ultrastructural damage. When subjected to myocardial ischemia–reperfusion injury, Caspase3 transgenic mice showed increased inf…
Akt induces enhanced myocardial contractility and cell size in vivo in transgenic mice
The serine-threonine kinase Akt seems to be central in mediating stimuli from different classes of receptors. In fact, both IGF-1 and IL6-like cytokines induce hypertrophic and antiapoptotic signals in cardiomyocytes through PI3K-dependent Akt activation. More recently, it was shown that Akt is involved also in the hypertrophic and antiapoptotic effects of β-adrenergic stimulation. Thus, to determine the effects of Akt on cardiac function in vivo, we generated a model of cardiac-specific Akt overexpression in mice. Transgenic mice were generated by using the E40K, constitutively active mutant of Akt linked to the rat α-myosin heavy chain promoter. The effects of cardiac-selective Akt overex…
Transplantation of low dose CD34+KDR+ cells promotes vascular and muscular regeneration in ischemic limbs.
Hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation can contribute to revascularization of ischemic tissues. Yet, the optimal cell population to be transplanted has yet to be determined. We have compared the therapeutic potential of two subsets of human cord blood CD34+ progenitors, either expressing the VEGF-A receptor 2 (KDR) or not. In serum-free starvation culture, CD34+KDR+ cells reportedly showed greater resistance to apoptosis and ability to release VEGF-A, as compared with CD34+KDR- cells. When injected into the hind muscles in immunodeficient SCIDbg mice subjected to unilateral ischemia, a low number (10(3)) of CD34+KDR+ cells improved limb salvage and hemodynamic recovery better than a …
Inhibition of class I histone deacetylase with an apicidin derivative prevents cardiac hypertrophy and failure
AIMS: Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of chromatin remodelling via histone acetylation/deacetylation for the control of cardiac gene expression. Specific histone deacetylases (HDACs) can, in fact, play a positive or negative role in determining cardiac myocyte (CM) size. Here, we report on the effect on hypertrophy development of three inhibitors (HDACi) of class I HDACs. METHODS AND RESULTS: The compounds were first analysed in vitro by scoring hypertrophy, expression of foetal genes, and apoptosis of neonatal rat CMs stimulated with phenylephrine, an alpha1-adrenergic agonist. This initial screening indicated that a truncated derivative of apicidin with class I HDAC specif…