Blockade of the Fas/Fas ligand system using soluble Fas gene transfer or genetic deletion in mice suppressed post-MI apoptosis, attenuated ventricular remodeling, and improved survival.
Does blockade of the Fas/Fas ligand system using sFas gene therapy improve post-MI ventricular remodeling and survival in mice?
Blockade of the Fas/Fas ligand system via sFas gene therapy attenuates post-MI ventricular remodeling and improves survival in a mouse model, suggesting a potential therapeutic target for chronic heart failure.
In myocardial infarction (MI), granulation tissue cells disappear via apoptosis to complete a final scarring with scanty cells. Blockade of this apoptosis was reported to improve post-MI ventricular remodeling and heart failure. However, the molecular biological mechanisms for the apoptosis are unknown. Fas and Fas ligand were overexpressed in the granulation tissue at the subacute stage of MI (1 week after MI) in mice, where apoptosis frequently occurred. In mice lacking functioning Fas (lpr strain) and in those lacking Fas ligand (gld strain), apoptotic rate of granulation tissue cells was significantly fewer compared with that of genetically controlled mice, and post-MI ventricular remodeling and dysfunction were greatly attenuated. Mice were transfected with adenovirus encoding soluble Fas (sFas), a competitive inhibitor of Fas ligand, on the third day of MI. The treatment resulted in suppression of granulation tissue cell apoptosis and produced a thick, cell-rich infarct scar containing rich vessels and bundles of smooth muscle cells with a contractile phenotype at the chronic stage (4 weeks after MI). This accompanied not only alleviation of heart failure but also survival improvement. However, the sFas gene delivery during scar tissue phase was ineffective, suggesting that beneficial effects of the sFas gene therapy owes to inhibition of granulation tissue cell apoptosis. The Fas/Fas ligand interaction plays a critical role for granulation tissue cell apoptosis after MI. Blockade of this apoptosis by interfering with the Fas/Fas ligand interaction may become one of the therapeutic strategies against chronic heart failure after large MI.
Li et al. (Fri,) conducted a other in Myocardial infarction. Adenovirus encoding soluble Fas (sFas) vs. Genetically controlled mice was evaluated on Granulation tissue cell apoptosis and post-MI ventricular remodeling. Blockade of the Fas/Fas ligand system using soluble Fas gene transfer or genetic deletion in mice suppressed post-MI apoptosis, attenuated ventricular remodeling, and improved survival.