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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) A corrigendum has been published All Versions of this Article: 285/2/H597    most recent 0655.2001v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (17) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Thomas, J. A. Articles by Giroir, B. P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Thomas, J. A. Articles by Giroir, B. P.

IRAK1 deletion disrupts cardiac Toll/IL-1 signaling and protects against contractile dysfunction

Departments of ¹Pediatrics, ²Molecular Biology, and ³Surgery, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390; and ⁴Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210

Submitted 26 July 2001 ; accepted in final form 21 April 2003

Myocardial contractile dysfunction accompanies both systemic and cardiac insults. Septic shock and burn trauma can lead to reversible contractile deficits, whereas ischemia and direct inflammation of the heart can precipitate transient or permanent impairments in contractility. Many of the insults that trigger contractile dysfunction also activate the innate immune system. Activation of the innate immune response to infection is coordinated by the conserved Toll/interleukin-1 (IL-1) signal transduction pathway. Interestingly, components of this pathway are also expressed in normal and failing hearts, although their function is unknown. The hypotheses that Toll/IL-1 signaling occurs in the heart and that intact pathway function is required for contractile dysfunction after different insults were tested. Results from these experiments demonstrate that lipopolysaccharides (LPS) activate Toll/IL-1 signaling and IL-1 receptor-associated kinase-1 (IRAK1), a critical pathway intermediate in the heart, indicating that the function of this pathway is not limited to immune system tissues. Moreover, hearts lacking IRAK1 exhibit impaired LPS-triggered downstream signal transduction. Hearts from IRAK1-deficient mice also resist acute LPS-induced contractile dysfunction. Finally, IRAK1 inactivation enhances survival of transgenic mice that develop severe myocarditis and lethal heart failure. Thus the Toll/IL-1 pathway is active in myocardial tissue and interference with pathway function, through IRAK1 inactivation, may represent a novel strategy to protect against cardiac contractile dysfunction.

heart failure; signal transduction; contractile function; genetically altered mice