Key result
Gut microbiota signals activate monocyte PLCγ2 to drive AF via endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition.
Why the study?
Monocyte activation-associated inflammation is implicated in atrial fibrillation, yet monocyte recruitment and their role in atrial remodeling remain unclear.
Does monocyte-specific PLCG2 deletion or gut microbiota depletion reduce atrial fibrillation inducibility and EndMT in a mouse model of AF?
Does monocyte-specific PLCG2 deletion or gut microbiota depletion reduce atrial fibrillation inducibility and EndMT in a mouse model of AF?
Gut microbiota activate PLCγ2+ monocytes, which promote endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition and atrial fibrillation, establishing a novel microbiota-monocyte-endocardial axis in AF pathogenesis.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Hypothesis-generating for microbiota-PLCγ2-monocyte-EndMT axis in murine AF; leaves open human relevance and therapeutic targeting.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia, conferring risks of stroke and heart failure. Monocyte activation-associated inflammation is implicated in AF, yet the recruitment of monocytes and their role in atrial remodeling remain unclear. Here we show that monocytes from AF patients upregulate phospholipase C gamma 2 (PLCG2). In a combined AF male mouse model, phospho-PLCγ2+ monocytes are recruited to the atria, where they trigger endothelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition (EndMT) through the secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1)-integrin α9β1 signaling axis. Monocyte-specific deletion of PLCG2 blocks atrial recruitment of these monocytes and reduces AF. Depletion of the gut microbiota with antibiotics reduces the number of phospho-PLCγ2+ monocytes in the atria, suppresses EndMT, and attenuates AF inducibility, and these effects are reversed by fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). Mechanistically, gut microbiota-derived bacterial membrane vesicles activate spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk)/PLCG2 signaling in monocytes. These findings establish a gut microbiota-monocyte-EndMT axis, wherein monocyte-endocardial crosstalk drives AF. Atrial fibrillation involves systemic inflammatory activation that remodel the atrial endocardium. Here, the authors show that gut microbiota activate PLCy2 positive monocytes, promoting endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition and atrial fibrillation through a microbiota–monocyte–endocardial axis.
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Kang et al. (2026) studied Atrial fibrillation (n=30). Gut microbiota-activated PLCγ2 monocytes vs. Controls / Sham was evaluated on PLCG2 expression in atrial monocytes (p=<0.0001). Gut microbiota-derived signals activate PLCγ2 in monocytes, promoting their recruitment to the atria where they drive endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition and atrial fibrillation.
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