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Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Committee on Molecular Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Submitted 13 May 2004 ; accepted in final form 7 September 2004
| ABSTRACT |
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hypertrophy; myocyte cell death
Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) is a (113 kDa) prototype member of the PARP family of DNA-bound enzymes located in the nuclei and mitochondria of various cells, including cardiac myocytes (11, 34). In Drosophila, elimination of the PARP gene is lethal, but not in mice, which have at least seven different members of the PARP family (28). The NH2-terminal region of PARP-1 (subsequently referred to as PARP) contains a caspase-sensitive site. Cleavage at this site generates a
85-kDa prominent band, which is considered a hallmark of apoptosis (6). PARP catalyzes the transfer of successive units of the ADP-ribose moiety from nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) to target proteins, a process called poly ADP-ribosylation (21). Under homeostatic conditions, PARP participates in regulation of many cellular processes, including DNA repair, gene transcription, cell cycle progression, cell survival, chromatin remodeling, and genome stability (6, 45, 48). However, overactivation of PARP threatens cell survival as it consumes cellular NAD+ content to add extended chains of ADP-ribose moieties on the target proteins (6, 45). Because NAD+ is essential for mitochondrial electron transport, depletion of NAD+ rapidly leads to energy deficit and eventually to cell death (17). PARP can also cause cell death by apoptosis, but without activation of caspases (46). Among the intracellular signals, oxygen- and nitrogen-derived free radicals and nuclear accumulation of Ca2+ have been shown to increase PARP activity (20, 45). Data obtained from the use of PARP inhibitors and mice lacking the PARP gene have indicated that overactivation of PARP contributes to cell dysfunction and death in various pathological conditions associated with oxidative cell stress, including reperfusion injury, inflammation, diabetes mellitus, circulatory shock, and stroke (3, 11, 30, 41, 50). However, to date, the potential role of PARP in the development of cardiac hypertrophy and failure has not been studied.
Here, we report that PARP is not cleaved but rather that a robust expression of PARP occurs in failing hearts of both animals and humans. Overexpression of PARP markedly represses cardiac gene transcription and eventually leads to cell death. By analyzing PARP/ mice, we further present evidence showing that PARP contributes to the pathogenesis of heart failure. These data demonstrate that PARP-mediated cell death could be a novel (caspase independent) mechanism contributing to myocyte cell loss during the progression of cardiac hypertrophy to heart failure.
| METHODS |
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Swimming protocol. Adult mice (CD1, n = 20) were subjected to a swimming exercise program (25). Briefly, animals were initially exercised for 30 min twice daily, with increments of 10 min daily. The final duration of exercise was 90 min, twice daily, for 8 wk. Development of cardiac hypertrophy was monitored by obtaining echocardiographic measurements. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of Chicago approved all the animal protocols.
Human failing heart samples.
Left ventricular (LV) samples were obtained from 14 patients with end-stage heart failure at the time of heart transplantation. Patients studied had either ischemic cardiomyopathy (n = 7), idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (n = 5), or restrictive cardiomyopathy (n = 2). Control myocardial specimens were obtained from five patients with nonfailing hearts who underwent valve surgery. All samples were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at 80°C until analyzed. Patients received different combinations of the following pharmacological agents: digoxin, dobutamine, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, Ca2+ channel blockers,
-adrenergic blockers, and diuretics. The University of Chicago Institutional Review Board approved all procedures involving the use of human tissue.
Western blot analysis. Whole cell extracts of mouse and human LVs were made in a urea extraction buffer [62.5 mM Tris (pH 6.8), 6 M urea, 10% glycerol, 2% SDS, 0.003% bromophenol blue, 5% 2-mercaptoethanol, and a cocktail of protein inhibitors]. The tissue was crushed to form powder using a precooled pestle and mortar, followed by sonication for 20 s. The protein concentration of the samples was measured using Bio-Rad protein assay dye reagent. The Westen blot analysis of proteins was carried out essentially as described previously (9). Anti-PARP-1, anti-caspase-3, and anti-apoptosis inducible factor (AIF) antibodies were purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology. The monoclonal anti-poly(ADP-ribose) antibody was purchased from Alexis Biochemicals.
Immunohistochemistry. Thin cryosections of heart tissue were fixed in cold acetone for 15 min. Sections were repeatedly washed in PBS wash buffer (PBS and 1% NP-40), blocked with 10% goat serum for 1 h at room temperature, and then incubated with the anti-poly(ADP-ribose) (1:100) antibody for 2 h. After the sections were washed extensively in wash buffer, the immunoreactivity was detected using horseradish peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG (1:500). Color was developed using diaminobenzidine as a substrate. Sections were counterstained with nuclear fast red to visualize nuclei. Some heart sections were also stained using a standard hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and/or Masson trichrome staining protocol (Poly Scientific; Bay Shore, NY). Heart sections were viewed under a Zeiss Axioskop microscope equipped with x10 Acroplan (0.25 numerical aperture) objective lens with an AxioCam color camera and the ocular power of x10 (i.e., x100 magnification).
Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling staining. Myocyte cell death in heart sections was detected using the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) technique with Cardio-TACS (Trevigen; Gaithersburg, MD) according to the manufacturer's instructions. In this procedure, nuclei undergoing apoptosis stained blue (TUNEL positive). Nuclear fast red was used as a counterstain to visualize nuclei. Positive controls included samples treated with nuclease-1, and negative controls lacked the TdT enzyme in the labeling reaction. Sections were also stained with H&E for comparison. TUNEL-positive myocytes were determined by randomly counting 500 cells in 10 fields. The index of apoptosis was calculated as the number of apoptotic myocytes per total number of myocytes x 100.
Primary cultures of cardiac myocytes and the transient transfection assay.
Primary cultures of cardiac myocytes were prepared from 2-day-old neonatal rat hearts as previously described (9). Myocytes were grown in DMEM supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and a mixture of 5 mg/ml penicillin and streptomycin (Life Technologies). Cells were transfected 48 h after being plated using Tfx-TM20 reagent (Promega) according to the manufacturer's protocol. After 48 h of transfection, cells were harvested, and cell lysate was prepared and assayed for luciferase (Luc),
-galactosidase (
-gal), and protein content.
Annexin V, Hoechst 33342, and propidium iodide staining. Primary cultures of cardiac myocytes were transfected with a PARP-expressing vector. On the third day after transfection, cells were stained with Annexin V-FITC, Hoechst dye, and/or propidium iodide (PI) to detect cell viability according to the manufacturer's protocol (Santa Cruz Biotechnology and Molecular Probes). For a positive control, cells were treated with camptothecin (2 µM) for 5 h. Cells transfected with an empty vector lacking PARP cDNA were used as negative controls. After cells were incubated for 15 min with the dye reagent, they were washed with PBS and visualized under the fluorescence microscope.
RNA extraction and Northern blot analysis.
Total RNA was extracted from control and banded mouse hearts with TRIzol reagent (Life Technologies) according to methods provided by the manufacturer. Northern blot analysis was performed using mouse atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and GAPDH cDNA probes and synthetic oligonucleotide probes for mouse
-myosin heavy chain (MHC),
-MHC, and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). The sequences of oligonucleotide probes were as follows:
-MHC, 5'-CGA ACG TTTA TGT TTAT TGT GGA TTG GCC ACA GCG AGG GTC TGC TGG AGA GGT TAT TCC TCG TC-3';
-MHC, 5'-GAG GGC TTC ACG GGC ACC CTT AGA GCT GGG TAG CAC AAG ATC TAC TCC TCA TTC AGG CC-3'; and BNP, 5'-CAG CTT GAG ATA TGT GTC ACC TTG GAA TTT TGA GGT CTC TGC TGG ACC CGG AGG GTG CTG-3'.
Scanning densitometry and statistical analysis. Autoradiograms were scanned using Scion Image for Windows analysis software, based on NIH Image for the Macintosh by Wayne Rasband (National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, MD). Signal intensity was adjusted for background density of the blot. Student's paired t-test was utilized to determine the statistical significance between two groups.
| RESULTS |
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-MHC genes were all elevated in pressure overload hypertrophy. In contrast, expression of these genes was not altered in the hearts of swimming mice. In hearts of banded mice, changes in ventricular thickness and chamber dilatation could be detected as early as 1 wk after mice were banded, but it was more pronounced at 6 wk, with the latter showing clear evidence of LV dilatation consistent with symptoms of clinical heart failure. The heart weight-to-tibia length ratio increased by 70% in 6-wk banded mice, whereas it was increased only by 15% in swimming mice. Nuclear extracts of these hearts were subjected to Western blot analysis to detect expression level of PARP and poly-ADP-ribosylation of nuclear proteins using anti-PARP and anti-ADP-ribose antibodies, respectively. As shown in Fig. 1, PARP expression was elevated in hearts of both swimming mice and banded mice compared with their respective controls. A dramatic increase (4-fold) of PARP occurred in mice banded for 6 wk; however, no cleavage of PARP was observed in either of these hearts. The increase in PARP at different time points after aortic banding showed a linear correlation with the degree of cardiac hypertrophy (Fig. 1D). To demonstrate a change in the catalytic activity of PARP during hypertrophy, we analyzed poly-ADP-ribosylation of nuclear proteins. Results showed enhanced protein ADP-ribosylation as early as 1 day after mice were aortic banded, which increased gradually with the time of aortic banding. At 4 and 6 wk of aortic banding, when signs of LV dilatation became apparent, a massive increase in protein ADP-ribosylation was observed in every heart we analyzed. A mild increase of protein poly-ADP-ribosylation was also detected in the hearts of swimming mice (Fig 1C). To further confirm these results, we performed immunohistochemical staining of heart sections with an anti-ADP-ribose antibody. As shown in Fig 1F, an increased nuclear staining for protein poly-ADP-ribosylation was detected throughout the muscle sections of 6-wk banded mice compared with controls (Fig 1E).
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85-kDa band was observed, which was associated with a proportionate decrease of 113-kDa full-length PARP, indicating that PARP present in these samples was indeed sensitive to caspase cleavage. Experiments carried out to test the enzymatic activity of PARP also revealed increased poly-ADP-ribosylation of nuclear proteins in failing hearts compared with controls (Fig. 2B). Together, these results indicated that PARP expression and enzymatic activity are elevated in failing hearts.
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20% myocyte stained positive to PI stain, whereas at 2 µg of the plasmid, the number of PI-positive cells rose to >50%. At higher amounts of PARP (5 µg), >50% cells detached from the bottom of the plate and almost all remaining cells became round and stained positive to both Hoechst and PI dyes, indicating massive myocyte cell death by PARP overexpression. Again, in the negative controls, no cell death could be detected in cultures transfected with the empty vector lacking PARP cDNA. These results thus demonstrate that PARP overexpression induces robust myocyte cell death in cultures.
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-MHC/Luc, skeletal
-actin/Luc, 5xCArG-heat shock protein (HSP)/
-gal, and HSP/
-gal reporter plasmids (9). All transfections were repeated at least three times with different preparations of DNA. The reporter gene activity normalized for the protein content is shown in Fig. 6. PARP markedly repressed (4080%) transcription activity of both cardiac-specific (e.g.,
-MHC and skeletal
-actin) and -nonspecific (5xCArG-HSP/
-gal and HSP/
-gal) promoters in a concentration-dependent manner from 0.5 to 1.0 µg of PARP plasmid, indicating that full-length PARP has a profound negative gene-regulatory effect in cardiac myocytes. To examine whether PARP-mediated repression of gene activity was a result of energy deficit, we measured ATP content of PARP-transfected cardiac myocytes. The results indicated that the amount of PARP that repressed gene transcription by 80% had no noticeable effect on the cell ATP contents, thus excluding the possibility of energy depletion as a cause of gene repression by PARP. From these results, we deduce that the PARP-mediated myocyte cell death could be, in part, due to a loss of basic transcriptional support of myocytes.
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60% reduction of cardiac hypertrophy in PARP/ mice compared with PARP+/+ mice. The rate of animal survival after aortic banding was also significantly different between the two groups of mice. Most of the PARP/ animals (>75%) that survived the first 2 days of aortic banding remained alive beyond 6 wk, whereas >50% of the PARP+/+ mice died within the 6 wk of study (Fig. 8). PARP+/+ mice that survived 6 wk of aortic banding had a significant amount of LV dilatation, whereas no apparent sign of ventricular dilation was seen in PARP/ mice (Fig. 8). The histological analysis of mouse heart sections showed disorganization of myofibers, scattered vacuoles, and intense Masson's trichrome blue staining in PARP+/+ mice, whereas these changes were either undetectable or of markedly less magnitude in PARP/ mice, suggesting increased interstitial fibrosis in the wild-type but not in PARP-negative mice during the course of pressure overload hypertrophy (Fig. 8). Attenuation of cardiac hypertrophy in PARP/ mice was also evident from the analysis of hypertrophic marker genes. In PARP+/+ banded mice, the levels of ANF, BNP, and
-MHC mRNA were highly elevated, whereas
-MHC levels were repressed, as expected. On the contrary, in PARP/ banded mice, no repression of
-MHC levels was observed, and the levels of ANF, BNP, and
-MHC were increased to a much lesser extent (Fig. 7). From these results, we conclude that PARP participates in certain events of cardiac hypertrophy, particularly in myocyte cell degeneration, interstitial fibrosis, and subsequent ventricular dilation, which are signs of propensity toward heart failure.
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| DISCUSSION |
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Cardiac muscle gene dysregulation and cell death associated with dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure have long been documented (1, 12, 15, 19, 26). However, the mechanism of cell death remains highly disputed (12, 19, 22). Our observation that PARP is not cleaved but rather its expression is progressively increased in relation to the degree of cardiac hypertrophy suggests that homodynamic stress endangers cardiac myocytes through a mechanism that appears different from conventional caspase-mediated apoptosis. This is in agreement with other reports showing failing heart myocytes to be negative for active caspase-3 but positive for DNA damage markers, including PARP (2, 10, 26, 27). Recently, Guerra and colleagues (15) have demonstrated that the number of necrotic cells is far greater (7-fold) than the number of apoptotic cells in patients with cardiac failure. Others have presented even stronger evidence against caspase-mediated cell death during heart failure. Knanpen et al. (26) have shown that cardiomyocytes in embryonic hearts undergo caspase-dependent cell death, whereas in the adult heart, during failure, they go through caspase-independent autophagic cell death. Similarly, DeBour et al. (10) found no sign of PARP cleavage despite evident cell death in myocardial specimens of patients with severe congestive heart failure. On the basis of these reports and data presented here, we believe that elevated levels of PARP contribute to a caspase-independent mechanism of myocyte cell death during heart failure.
Conflicting data exist concerning the influence of caspases in the development of cardiac hypertrophy and subsequent failure. Whereas some investigators have failed to detect activation of caspases or a beneficial effect of caspase inhibitors in endangered myocardium, others have found positive results (Refs. 7 and 12 and the references therein). During early stages of cardiac hypertrophy (or physiological hypertrophy), no activation of caspases has been reported; however, apoptosis has been seen accompanying the adaptive phase of pressure overload hypertrophy (8, 13). Some studies have shown that during sustained pressure overload, caspase activation peaks only during hypertrophy of the myocardium; thereafter it declines in failing hearts (23). It is therefore likely that caspase activation is an epiphenomenon occurring at a particular stage of hypertrophy, possibly during transition to heart failure. The time window between activation of caspases and their downstream effects, including PARP cleavage and finally DNA fragmentation, also may be very narrow. As a result, conflicting results could have been seen, depending on the severity of the disease and the time point when tissue was taken for the analysis. In this study, we did not detect activation of caspases in the mouse model of cardiac hypertrophy, whereas PARP was gradually increased with the intensity of hypertrophy, including during physiological hypertrophy. This suggests that PARP activation may have a much broader role in the development of cardiac hypertrophy, and its cell degeneration effects may precede the timeline of caspase activation in diseased hearts.
How does increased expression of PARP cause myocyte cell death? PARP is considered the "Cinderella" of the genome because of its pivotal role in cell survival and maintenance of genome integrity. Single-strand DNA break is the most potent signal for PARP activation (6, 21). However, recent reports have indicated that PARP also could be activated by cell stressors not necessarily associated with DNA damage. These include reactive oxygen/nitrogen species and increased intracellular levels of Ca2+, Mg2+, and polyamines (20, 29, 45). Once activated, PARP induces protein poly-ADP-ribosylation by utilizing cellular NAD+ content. Several reports have indicated that, whereas mild activation of PARP plays a physiological role in cell survival, overactivation of PARP threatens cell viability due to a drop in the intracellular NAD+/ATP pool, which leads to cell necrosis (6, 48). PARP can also induce cell death by apoptosis but without activation of caspases (46). PARP has been shown to induce translocation of AIF from the mitochondria to the nucleus, where it causes chromatin degradation and eventually cell death (46). Another mechanism for PARP-mediated cell death is considered to be dependent on the linkage between the PARP pathway and class III histone deacetylases (sirtuins; e.g., SIR2
), which are NAD+ dependent and expressed in the adult heart (37, 49). Several studies have shown that SIR2
has profound roles in chromatin remodeling, gene silencing, cell viability, and longevity (42). Overexpression of SIR2 has been shown to increase the life span of the organism by 50%, perhaps by protecting cells against oxidative stress (42). Because the enzymatic activity of SIR2 is absolutely dependent on NAD+, it is suggested that the activation of PARP downregulates SIR2 through depletion of cell NAD+ content, which then promotes cell death via activation of p53-mediated apoptosis (5, 44, 49). Although more studies are required to understand the precise mechanism of PARP-mediated myocyte cell death, our data presented here show that one way that PARP induction could threaten cardiac cell survival is by depriving cells of their basic transcriptional support.
Given the cell-damaging role of PARP in myocytes, it was surprising to note that PARP was also activated in hearts of swimming mice with physiological hypertrophy. Previous studies analyzing the effects of PARP inhibitors have demonstrated that PARP has a physiological role in cell growth and gene regulation (39, 48). In the brain, stress-mediated atrophy of neurons was shown to be associated with reduced levels of PARP, implicating a role of PARP in normal cell growth and the development of neurons (47). PARP has been shown to regulate chromatin condensation and gene expression by poly-ADP-ribosylation of nuclear target proteins (35, 43). Additionally, PARP was shown to activate gene transcription when it is catalytically inactive (18, 32). Thus it appears that PARP controls gene expression in at least two ways: 1) by its enzymatic activity to poly-ADP-ribosylate target proteins, which adds a massive negative charge on the target protein, leading to change of its function; and 2) by its nonenzymatic activities, which includes its ability to bind to other transcription factors and hence to modify the activity of the transcription complex. Recently, numerous physical and functional interactions of PARP with other transcription factors have been described. These include factors that are also known to participate in the development of hypertrophy, such as NF-
B, activator protein 2, p53, TEF1, MyoD, and YY1 (4, 18, 24, 28, 33). One of the major determinants of physiological hypertrophy is the induction of
-MHC expression. Previously, we and others (16, 40) have shown that TEF1 and YY1 regulate
-MHC expression in an opposite manner; TEF1 activates, whereas YY1 represses,
-MHC promoter activity. Interestingly, the transcription activity of TEF1 and YY1 also has been shown to be regulated in an opposite manner by their association with PARP. Whereas PARP activates TEF1 activity, it inhibits the activity of YY1 (4, 28, 33). Thus it is conceivable that the mild activation of PARP through changing the activity of TEF1 and YY1 and/or through other unidentified mechanisms [such as chromatin relaxation (35)] regulates the expression of
-MHC and other cell growth-promoting genes, which leads to the development of physiological hypertrophy. However, when PARP is overactivated by sustained hemodynamic stress, it initiates another cascade of events through its enzymatic activity, which causes poly-ADP-ribosylation of transcription factors. This kind of posttranslational modification of proteins interferes with their ability to bind to each other and to DNA, resulting in repression of gene transcription and finally to cell death. A general outcome of this process in the heart would be expected to result in gene dysregulation, myocyte cell death, and fibrosis, a series of events that are known to be associated with pathological cardiac hypertrophy and with failing hearts. A role of inflammatory cytokines and NF-
B in the induction of pathological hypertrophy is fairly well established (36). Recent reports indicate that PARP, together with other cofactors, regulates the transcriptional activity of cytokines and NF-
B; thus PARP could also initiate the process of pathological hypertrophy via changing the activity of these intermediary factors (18). From the foregoing discussion, it appears that a gradual change in PARP activity may determine the transition between physiological and pathological cardiac hypertrophy. This would be identical to the dual role of other factors, e.g., calcineurin, which has been shown to participate in both physiological and pathological forms of cardiac hypertrophy (14).
In summary, this study shows for the first time that PARP-mediated signaling may be directly involved in the evolution and progression of cardiac hypertrophy. It supports many previous studies where myocardial specimens of failing hearts were found to be negative for active caspases but had clear signs of cell death. Recent studies have strongly indicated the involvement of oxygen/nitrogen-derived free radicals in the development of cardiac hypertrophy (38). Because PARP activity is sensitive to free radical generation and PARP inhibitors are in use for different oxidative stress-mediated diseases, it is tempting to believe that PARP inhibitors may also hold potential for treating anomalies of cardiomyopathies and heart failure.
| GRANTS |
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| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| FOOTNOTES |
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The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
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