Sepsis is caused by a dysregulated immune response to infection and is a leading cause of mortality globally. To date, no specific therapeutics are available to treat the underlying septic response. We and others have shown that recombinant human annexin A5 (Anx5) treatment inhibits pro-inflammatory cytokine production and improves survival in rodent sepsis models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Maternal exercise lowers the incidence of congenital heart defects (CHDs) induced by pregestational diabetes. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of maternal exercise remain unclear. The present study aimed to identify circular RNA (circRNA), microRNA (miRNA) and mRNA networks that are regulated by maternal exercise in fetal hearts of pregestational diabetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCannabis Cannabinoid Res
February 2024
Cannabis is increasingly being consumed by pregnant women for recreational purposes as well as for its antiemetic and anxiolytic effects despite limited studies on its safety during pregnancy. Importantly, phytocannabinoids found in cannabis can pass through the placenta and enter the fetal circulation. Recent reports suggest gestational cannabis use is associated with negative fetal outcomes, including fetal growth restriction and perinatal intensive care, however, the effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on fetal heart development remains to be elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe epicardium is a potential source of cardiac progenitors to support reparative angiogenesis after myocardial infarction (MI) through epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Primary cilia are recognized as hubs of cellular signaling, and their presence can alter downstream pathways to modulate EMT. The present study aimed to examine the effects of inhibiting intraflagellar transport protein-88 (Ift88), a protein vital to ciliary assembly, on epicardial EMT and cardiac remodeling post-MI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMaternal cigarette smoking is a risk factor for congenital heart defects (CHDs). Nicotine replacement therapies are often offered to pregnant women following failed attempts of smoking cessation. However, the impact of nicotine on embryonic heart development is not well understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) is a cardiomyopathy that can lead to arrhythmias, embolic events and heart failure. Despite our current knowledge of cardiac development, the mechanisms underlying noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium are still poorly understood. The small GTPase acts as a crucial regulator of numerous developmental events.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOxid Med Cell Longev
May 2021
NADPH oxidases (NOX) are a major source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the heart. ROS signaling regulates gene expression, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and migration. However, the role of NOX2 in embryonic heart development remains elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEndothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and oxidative stress are critical to embryonic coronary artery development. Maternal diabetes increases oxidative stress and reduces eNOS activity in the fetal heart. Sapropterin (Kuvan®) is an orally active, synthetic form of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) and a co-factor for eNOS with antioxidant properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWomen with pre-gestational diabetes have a higher risk of producing children with congenital heart defects (CHDs), caused predominantly by hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress. In this study, we evaluated if exercise during pregnancy could mitigate oxidative stress and reduce the incidence of CHDs in the offspring of diabetic mice. Female mice were treated with streptozotocin to induce pre-gestational diabetes, then mated with healthy males to produce offspring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground Tetrahydrobiopterin is a cofactor of endothelial NO synthase ( eNOS ), which is critical to embryonic heart development. We aimed to study the effects of sapropterin (Kuvan), an orally active synthetic form of tetrahydrobiopterin on eNOS uncoupling and congenital heart defects ( CHD s) induced by pregestational diabetes mellitus in mice. Methods and Results Adult female mice were induced to pregestational diabetes mellitus by streptozotocin and bred with normal male mice to produce offspring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStore-operated Ca entry (SOCE) mediated by stromal interacting molecule-1 (STIM1) and Orai1 represents a major route of Ca entry in mammalian cells and is initiated by STIM1 oligomerization in the endoplasmic or sarcoplasmic reticulum. However, the effects of nitric oxide (NO) on STIM1 function are unknown. Neuronal NO synthase is located in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of cardiomyocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStore-operated Ca entry (SOCE) is a major Ca signaling pathway facilitating extracellular Ca influx in response to the initial release of intracellular endo/sarcoplasmic reticulum (ER/SR) Ca stores. Stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) is the Ca sensor that activates SOCE following ER/SR Ca depletion. The EF-hand and the adjacent sterile α-motif (EFSAM) domains of STIM1 are essential for detecting changes in luminal Ca concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOffspring of diabetic mothers are at risk of cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not clear. We hypothesize that prenatal exposure to maternal diabetes up-regulates myocardial NOX2 expression and enhances ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in the adult offspring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRegulator of G protein signalling 2 (RGS2) is known to play a protective role in maladaptive cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure via its ability to inhibit G- and G- mediated GPCR signalling. We previously demonstrated that RGS2 can also inhibit protein translation and can thereby attenuate cell growth. This G protein-independent inhibitory effect has been mapped to a 37 amino acid domain (RGS2) within RGS2 that binds to eukaryotic initiation factor 2B (eIF2B).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSepsis is a systemic inflammatory response to infection with a high mortality but has no specific treatment despite decades of research. North American (NA) ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is a popular natural health product with anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of NA ginseng on pro-inflammatory cytokine expression and cardiac function in endotoxemia, a model of sepsis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMyocardial infarction induced by coronary artery ligation has been used in many animal models as a tool to study the mechanisms of cardiac repair and regeneration, and to define new targets for therapeutics. For decades, models of complete heart regeneration existed in amphibians and fish, but a mammalian counterpart was not available. The recent discovery of a postnatal window during which mice possess regenerative capabilities has led to the establishment of a mammalian model of cardiac regeneration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRac1 is a small GTPase and plays key roles in multiple cellular processes including the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, whether Rac1 activation during myocardial ischaemia and reperfusion (I/R) contributes to arrhythmogenesis is not fully understood. We aimed to study the effects of Rac1 inhibition on store overload-induced Ca(2+) release (SOICR) and ventricular arrhythmia during myocardial I/R.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The small GTPase Rac1 regulates diverse cellular functions, including both apicobasal and planar cell polarity pathways; however, its role in cardiac outflow tract (OFT) development remains unknown. In the present study, we aimed to examine the role of Rac1 in the anterior second heart field (SHF) splanchnic mesoderm and subsequent OFT development during heart morphogenesis.
Methods And Results: Using the Cre/loxP system, mice with an anterior SHF-specific deletion of Rac1 (Rac1(SHF)) were generated.
Hypoplastic coronary artery disease is a congenital coronary artery malformation associated with a high risk of sudden cardiac death. However, the etiology and pathogenesis of hypoplastic coronary artery disease remain undefined. Pregestational diabetes increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and the risk of congenital heart defects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Heart Assoc
October 2014
Background: Defects in cardiac septation are the most common form of congenital heart disease, but the mechanisms underlying these defects are still poorly understood. The small GTPase Rac1 is implicated in planar cell polarity of epithelial cells in Drosophila; however, its role in mammalian cardiomyocyte polarity is not clear. We tested the hypothesis that Rac1 signaling in the second heart field regulates cardiomyocyte polarity, chamber septation, and right ventricle development during embryonic heart development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The adult epicardium is a potential source of cardiac progenitors after myocardial infarction (MI). We tested the hypothesis that cardiomyocyte-specific overexpression of membrane-associated human stem cell factor (hSCF) enhances epicardial activation, epicardium-derived cells (EPDCs) production, and myocardial arteriogenesis post MI.
Methods And Results: Wild-type and the inducible cardiac-specific hSCF transgenic (hSCF/tetracycline transactivator) mice were subjected to MI.
Cardiovasc Diabetol
February 2014
Background: Pregestational diabetes is a major risk factor of congenital heart defects (CHDs). Glutathione is depleted and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production is elevated in diabetes. In the present study, we aimed to examine whether treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which increases glutathione synthesis and inhibits ROS production, prevents CHDs induced by pregestational diabetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNitric oxide synthase-3 (NOS3) has recently been shown to promote endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) in the developing atrioventricular (AV) canal. The present study was aimed to investigate the role of NOS3 in embryonic development of AV valves. We hypothesized that NOS3 promotes embryonic development of AV valves via EndMT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF