Key result
Lentiviral expression of constitutively active human Erbb2 (cahErbb2) robustly stimulated cardiomyocyte proliferation in both human and rat in vitro models, accompanied by sarcomere disassembly and functional remodeling mediated by Erk signaling.
Why the study?
It is unclear whether the effects of mitogenic pathways promoting cardiomyocyte proliferation are species-specific and how they directly compare in the same cardiac setting.
Does expression of a constitutively active mutant form of Erbb2 stimulate proliferation and functional remodeling in human and rat cardiomyocytes?
Does expression of a constitutively active mutant form of Erbb2 stimulate proliferation and functional remodeling in human and rat cardiomyocytes?
Transient activation of the Erbb2/Erk axis in cardiomyocytes may serve as a potential strategy for regenerative heart repair following myocardial infarction.
Human caErbb2 most consistently drives hiPSC-CM and neonatal CM proliferation in vitro; leaves open species-specific effects and in vivo repair potential.
Multiple mitogenic pathways capable of promoting mammalian cardiomyocyte (CM) proliferation have been identified as potential candidates for functional heart repair following myocardial infarction. However, it is unclear whether the effects of these mitogens are species-specific and how they directly compare in the same cardiac setting. Here, we examined how CM-specific lentiviral expression of various candidate mitogens affects human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived CMs (hiPSC-CMs) and neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs) in vitro. In 2D-cultured CMs from both species, and in highly mature 3D-engineered cardiac tissues generated from NRVMs, a constitutively active mutant form of the human gene Erbb2 (cahErbb2) was the most potent tested mitogen. Persistent expression of cahErbb2 induced CM proliferation, sarcomere loss, and remodeling of tissue structure and function, which were attenuated by small molecule inhibitors of Erk signaling. These results suggest transient activation of Erbb2/Erk axis in CMs as a potential strategy for regenerative heart repair.
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Strash et al. (2021) studied Myocardial infarction / Heart repair (in vitro models). Constitutively active human Erbb2 (cahErbb2) vs. Control lentiviral vector or other mitogens (caCtnnb1, Ccnd2, carErbb2, caYap8SA) was evaluated on Cardiomyocyte proliferation (EdU incorporation and H3P expression). Lentiviral expression of constitutively active human Erbb2 (cahErbb2) robustly stimulated cardiomyocyte proliferation in both human and rat in vitro models, accompanied by sarcomere disassembly and functional remodeling mediated by Erk signaling.
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