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Biomedical subjects

Richard T Lee

Publications and source records attributed to Richard T Lee.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

FGF1/p38 MAP kinase inhibitor therapy induces cardiomyocyte mitosis, reduces scarring, and rescues function after myocardial infarction.

Mammalian cardiomyocytes have limited proliferation potential, and acutely injured mammalian hearts do not regenerate adequately. Instead, injured myocardium develops fibrosis and scarring. Here we show that FGF1/p38 MAP kinase inhibitor treatment after acute myocardial injury in 8- to 10-week-old rats increases cardiomyocyte mitosis. At 3 months after injury, 4 weeks of FGF1/p38 MAP kinase inhibitor therapy results in reduced scarring and wall thinning, with markedly improved cardiac function. In contrast, p38 MAP kinase inhibition alone fails to rescue heart function despite increased cardiomyocyte mitosis. FGF1 improves angiogenesis, possibly contributing to the survival of newly generated cardiomyocytes. Our data indicate that FGF1 and p38 MAP kinase, proteins involved in cardiomyocyte proliferation and angiogenesis during development, may be delivered therapeutically to enhance cardiac regeneration.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Nitric oxide-dependent suppression of thioredoxin-interacting protein expression enhances thioredoxin activity.

OBJECTIVE: Cellular redox balance is regulated by enzymatic and nonenzymatic systems and freely diffusible nitric oxide (NO) promotes antioxidative mechanisms. We show the NO-dependent transcriptional regulation of the antioxidative thioredoxin system. METHODS AND RESULTS: Incubation of rat pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (RPaSMC) with the NO donor compound S-nitroso-glutathione (GSNO, 100 micromol/L) suppressed thioredoxin-interacting protein (Txnip), an inhibitor of thioredoxin function, by 71+/-18% and enhanced thioredoxin reductase 2.7+/-0.2 fold (n=6; both P<0.001 versus control). GSNO increased thioredoxin activity (1.9+/-0.5-fold after 4 hours; P<0.05 versus control). Promoter deletion analysis revealed that NO suppression of Txnip transcription is mediated by cis-regulatory elements between -1777 and -1127 bp upstream of the start codon. Hyperglycemia induced Txnip promoter activity (3.9+/-0.2-fold; P<0.001) and abolished NO effects (-37.4+/-1.0% at 5.6 mmol/L glucose versus 12.4+/-2.1% at 22.4 mmol/L glucose; P<0.05). Immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that GSNO stimulation and mutation of thioredoxin at Cys69, a site of nitrosylation, had no effect on the Txnip/thioredoxin interaction. CONCLUSIONS: NO can regulate cellular redox state by changing expression of Txnip and thioredoxin reductase. This represents a novel antioxidative mechanism of NO independent of posttranslational protein S-nitrosylation of thioredoxin.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Local controlled intramyocardial delivery of platelet-derived growth factor improves postinfarction ventricular function without pulmonary toxicity.

BACKGROUND: Local delivery methods can target therapies to specific tissues and potentially avoid toxicity to other organs. Platelet-derived growth factor can protect the myocardium, but it also plays an important role in promoting pulmonary hypertension. It is not known whether local myocardial delivery of platelet-derived growth factor during myocardial infarction (MI) can lead to sustained cardiac benefit without causing pulmonary hypertension. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a randomized and blinded experiment of 127 rats that survived experimental MI or sham surgery. We delivered platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB with self-assembling peptide nanofibers (NFs) to provide controlled release within the myocardium. There were 6 groups with n > or = 20 in each group: sham, sham+NF, sham+NF/PDGF, MI, MI+NF, and MI+NF/PDGF. Serial echocardiography from 1 day to 3 months showed significant improvement of ventricular fractional shortening, end-systolic dimension, and end-diastolic dimension with local PDGF delivery (P < 0.05 for MI+NF/PDGF versus MI or MI+NF). Catheterization at 4 months revealed improved ventricular function in the controlled delivery group (left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, cardiac index, +dP/dt, -dP/dt, and time constant of exponential decay all P < 0.05 for MI+NF/P versus MI or MI+NF). Infarcted myocardial volume was reduced by NF/PDGF therapy (34.0 +/- 13.3% in MI, 28.9 +/- 12.9% in MI+NF, and 12.0 +/- 5.8% in MI+NF/PDGF; P < 0.001). There was no evidence of pulmonary toxicity from the therapy, with no differences in right ventricular end-systolic pressure, right ventricular dP/dt, bromodeoxyuridine staining, or pulmonary artery medial wall thickness. CONCLUSIONS: Intramyocardial delivery of PDGF by self-assembling peptide NFs leads to long-term improvement in cardiac performance after experimental infarction without apparent pulmonary toxicity. Local myocardial protection may allow prevention of heart failure without systemic toxicity.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Lamins A and C but not lamin B1 regulate nuclear mechanics.

Mutations in the nuclear envelope proteins lamins A and C cause a broad variety of human diseases, including Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, dilated cardiomyopathy, and Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. Cells lacking lamins A and C have reduced nuclear stiffness and increased nuclear fragility, leading to increased cell death under mechanical strain and suggesting a potential mechanism for disease. Here, we investigated the contribution of major lamin subtypes (lamins A, C, and B1) to nuclear mechanics by analyzing nuclear shape, nuclear dynamics over time, nuclear deformations under strain, and cell viability under prolonged mechanical stimulation in cells lacking both lamins A and C, cells lacking only lamin A (i.e. "lamin C-only" cells), cells lacking wild-type lamin B1, and wild-type cells. Lamin A/C-deficient cells exhibited increased numbers of misshapen nuclei and had severely reduced nuclear stiffness and decreased cell viability under strain. Lamin C-only cells had slightly abnormal nuclear shape and mildly reduced nuclear stiffness but no decrease in cell viability under strain. Interestingly, lamin B1-deficient cells exhibited normal nuclear mechanics despite having a significantly increased frequency of nuclear blebs. Our study indicates that lamins A and C are important contributors to the mechanical stiffness of nuclei, whereas lamin B1 contributes to nuclear integrity but not stiffness.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

The interaction of thioredoxin with Txnip. Evidence for formation of a mixed disulfide by disulfide exchange.

The thioredoxin system plays an important role in maintaining a reducing environment in the cell. Recently, several thioredoxin binding partners have been identified and proposed to mediate aspects of redox signaling, but the significance of these interactions is unclear in part due to incomplete understanding of the mechanism for thioredoxin binding. Thioredoxin-interacting protein (Txnip) is critical for regulation of glucose metabolism, the only currently known function of which is to bind and inhibit thioredoxin. We explored the mechanism of the Txnip-thioredoxin interaction and present evidence that Txnip and thioredoxin form a stable disulfide-linked complex. We identified two Txnip cysteines that are important for thioredoxin binding and showed that this interaction is consistent with a disulfide exchange reaction between oxidized Txnip and reduced thioredoxin. These cysteines are not conserved in the broader family of arrestin domain-containing proteins, and we demonstrate that the thioredoxin-binding property of Txnip is unique. These data suggest that Txnip is a target of reduced thioredoxin and provide insight into the potential role of Txnip as a redox-sensitive signaling protein.

3T3-L1 Cells↗
PubMed2006

Local myocardial insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) delivery with biotinylated peptide nanofibers improves cell therapy for myocardial infarction.

Strategies for cardiac repair include injection of cells, but these approaches have been hampered by poor cell engraftment, survival, and differentiation. To address these shortcomings for the purpose of improving cardiac function after injury, we designed self-assembling peptide nanofibers for prolonged delivery of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a cardiomyocyte growth and differentiation factor, to the myocardium, using a "biotin sandwich" approach. Biotinylated IGF-1 was complexed with tetravalent streptavidin and then bound to biotinylated self-assembling peptides. This biotin sandwich strategy allowed binding of IGF-1 but did not prevent self-assembly of the peptides into nanofibers within the myocardium. IGF-1 that was bound to peptide nanofibers activated Akt, decreased activation of caspase-3, and increased expression of cardiac troponin I in cardiomyocytes. After injection into rat myocardium, biotinylated nanofibers provided sustained IGF-1 delivery for 28 days, and targeted delivery of IGF-1 in vivo increased activation of Akt in the myocardium. When combined with transplanted cardiomyocytes, IGF-1 delivery by biotinylated nanofibers decreased caspase-3 cleavage by 28% and increased the myocyte cross-sectional area by 25% compared with cells embedded within nanofibers alone or with untethered IGF-1. Finally, cell therapy with IGF-1 delivery by biotinylated nanofibers improved systolic function after experimental myocardial infarction, demonstrating how engineering the local cellular microenvironment can improve cell therapy.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Endothelial-cardiomyocyte interactions in cardiac development and repair.

Communication between endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes regulates not only early cardiac development but also adult cardiomyocyte function, including the contractile state. In the normal mammalian myocardium, each cardiomyocyte is surrounded by an intricate network of capillaries and is next to endothelial cells. Cardiomyocytes depend on endothelial cells not only for oxygenated blood supply but also for local protective signals that promote cardiomyocyte organization and survival. While endothelial cells direct cardiomyocytes, cardiomyocytes reciprocally secrete factors that impact endothelial cell function. Understanding how endothelial cells communicate with cardiomyocytes will be critical for cardiac regeneration, in which the ultimate goal is not simply to improve systolic function transiently but to establish new myocardium that is both structurally and functionally normal in the long term.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Prelamin A and lamin A appear to be dispensable in the nuclear lamina.

Lamin A and lamin C, both products of Lmna, are key components of the nuclear lamina. In the mouse, a deficiency in both lamin A and lamin C leads to slow growth, muscle weakness, and death by 6 weeks of age. Fibroblasts deficient in lamins A and C contain misshapen and structurally weakened nuclei, and emerin is mislocalized away from the nuclear envelope. The physiologic rationale for the existence of the 2 different Lmna products lamin A and lamin C is unclear, although several reports have suggested that lamin A may have particularly important functions, for example in the targeting of emerin and lamin C to the nuclear envelope. Here we report the development of lamin C-only mice (Lmna(LCO/LCO)), which produce lamin C but no lamin A or prelamin A (the precursor to lamin A). Lmna(LCO/LCO) mice were entirely healthy, and Lmna(LCO/LCO) cells displayed normal emerin targeting and exhibited only very minimal alterations in nuclear shape and nuclear deformability. Thus, at least in the mouse, prelamin A and lamin A appear to be dispensable. Nevertheless, an accumulation of farnesyl-prelamin A (as occurs with a deficiency in the prelamin A processing enzyme Zmpste24) caused dramatically misshapen nuclei and progeria-like disease phenotypes. The apparent dispensability of prelamin A suggested that lamin A-related progeroid syndromes might be treated with impunity by reducing prelamin A synthesis. Remarkably, the presence of a single Lmna(LCO) allele eliminated the nuclear shape abnormalities and progeria-like disease phenotypes in Zmpste24-/- mice. Moreover, treating Zmpste24-/- cells with a prelamin A-specific antisense oligonucleotide reduced prelamin A levels and significantly reduced the frequency of misshapen nuclei. These studies suggest a new therapeutic strategy for treating progeria and other lamin A diseases.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Controlled delivery of PDGF-BB for myocardial protection using injectable self-assembling peptide nanofibers.

Endothelial cells can protect cardiomyocytes from injury, but the mechanism of this protection is incompletely described. Here we demonstrate that protection of cardiomyocytes by endothelial cells occurs through PDGF-BB signaling. PDGF-BB induced cardiomyocyte Akt phosphorylation in a time- and dose-dependent manner and prevented apoptosis via PI3K/Akt signaling. Using injectable self-assembling peptide nanofibers, which bound PDGF-BB in vitro, sustained delivery of PDGF-BB to the myocardium at the injected sites for 14 days was achieved. A blinded and randomized study in 96 rats showed that injecting nanofibers with PDGF-BB, but not nanofibers or PDGF-BB alone, decreased cardiomyocyte death and preserved systolic function after myocardial infarction. A separate blinded and randomized study in 52 rats showed that PDGF-BB delivered with nanofibers decreased infarct size after ischemia/reperfusion. PDGF-BB with nanofibers induced PDGFR-beta and Akt phosphorylation in cardiomyocytes in vivo. These data demonstrate that endothelial cells protect cardiomyocytes via PDGF-BB signaling and that this in vitro finding can be translated into an effective in vivo method of protecting myocardium after infarction. Furthermore, this study shows that injectable nanofibers allow precise and sustained delivery of proteins to the myocardium with potential therapeutic benefits.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Smoking, metalloproteinases, and vascular disease.

Smoking causes up to 11% of total global cardiovascular deaths. Smoking has numerous effects that may promote atherosclerosis through vascular inflammation and oxidative stress, but the pathogenesis of smoking-related cardiovascular disease remains incompletely understood. The matrix metalloproteinases, a family of endopeptidases that can degrade extracellular matrix components in both physiological and pathophysiological states, play an important role in smoking-associated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the second leading cause of smoking attributable mortality. Emerging evidence indicates that the matrix metalloproteinases may also contribute to smoking-related vascular disease. Here we discuss the potential relationship between smoking, matrix metalloproteinases, and acceleration of vascular disease.

Atherosclerosis↗
PubMed2005

Focal adhesion kinase signaling regulates cardiogenesis of embryonic stem cells.

The signaling steps that induce cardiac differentiation in embryonic stem (ES) cells are incompletely understood. We examined the effect of adhesion signaling including Src and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) on cardiogenesis in mouse ES cells using alpha-myosin heavy chain promoter-driven enhanced green fluorescent protein or luciferase as reporters. Cardiac transcription factors including Nkx2.5 and Tbx5 mRNA were first expressed at day 4 in hanging drop embryoid bodies, and adhesion of embryoid bodies to surfaces at or before that day strongly inhibited differentiation of ES cells to cardiomyocytes. Since adhesion signaling could suppress cardiogenesis through Src kinases, embryoid bodies were exposed to the small molecule PP2, known as a Src family kinase inhibitor. PP2 during embryoid body adhesion dramatically increased cardiomyocyte differentiation and decreased mRNA expression of neuronal cellular adhesion molecule and alpha-fetoprotein, neuroectodermal, and endodermal markers, respectively. Surprisingly, although there was an interaction between Src and FAK in cardiogenesis, the procardiogenic effect of PP2 appeared incompletely explained by Src kinase inhibition, since another Src family kinase inhibitor, SU6656, failed to induce cardiogenesis. Instead, PP2 specifically inhibited adhesion-induced FAK phosphorylation. In ES cells stably expressing FAK-related nonkinase, which functions as a dominant negative FAK, cell migration from embryoid bodies was inhibited, whereas alpha-myosin heavy chain expression and myosin-stained cardiomyocytes were increased, suggesting that reducing cell motility may contribute to cardiogenesis. These data indicate that FAK is a key regulator of cardiogenesis in mouse ES cells and that FAK signaling within embryoid bodies can direct stem cell lineage commitment.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 gene deletion facilitates angiogenesis after myocardial infarction.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are postulated to be necessary for neovascularization during wound healing. MMP-9 deletion alters remodeling postmyocardial infarction (post-MI), but whether and to what degree MMP-9 affects neovascularization post-MI is unknown. Neovascularization was evaluated in wild-type (WT; n = 63) and MMP-9 null (n = 55) mice at 7-days post-MI. Despite similar infarct sizes, MMP-9 deletion improved left ventricular function as evaluated by hemodynamic analysis. Blood vessel quantity and quality were evaluated by three independent studies. First, vessel density was increased in the infarct of MMP-9 null mice compared with WT, as quantified by Griffonia (Bandeiraea) simplicifolia lectin I (GSL-I) immunohistochemistry. Second, preexisting vessels, stained in vivo with FITC-labeled GSL-I pre-MI, were present in the viable but not MI region. Third, a technetium-99m-labeled peptide (NC100692), which selectively binds to activated alpha(v)beta3-integrin in angiogenic vessels, was injected into post-MI mice. Relative NC100692 activity in myocardial segments with diminished perfusion (0-40% nonischemic) was higher in MMP-9 null than in WT mice (383 +/- 162% vs. 250 +/- 118%, respectively; P = 0.002). The unique finding of this study was that MMP-9 deletion stimulated, rather than impaired, neovascularization in remodeling myocardium. Thus targeted strategies to inhibit MMP-9 early post-MI will likely not impair the angiogenic response.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Abnormal nuclear shape and impaired mechanotransduction in emerin-deficient cells.

Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy can be caused by mutations in the nuclear envelope proteins lamin A/C and emerin. We recently demonstrated that A-type lamin-deficient cells have impaired nuclear mechanics and altered mechanotransduction, suggesting two potential disease mechanisms (Lammerding, J., P.C. Schulze, T. Takahashi, S. Kozlov, T. Sullivan, R.D. Kamm, C.L. Stewart, and R.T. Lee. 2004. J. Clin. Invest. 113:370-378). Here, we examined the function of emerin on nuclear mechanics and strain-induced signaling. Emerin-deficient mouse embryo fibroblasts have abnormal nuclear shape, but in contrast to A-type lamin-deficient cells, exhibit nuclear deformations comparable to wild-type cells in cellular strain experiments, and the integrity of emerin-deficient nuclear envelopes appeared normal in a nuclear microinjection assay. Interestingly, expression of mechanosensitive genes in response to mechanical strain was impaired in emerin-deficient cells, and prolonged mechanical stimulation increased apoptosis in emerin-deficient cells. Thus, emerin-deficient mouse embryo fibroblasts have apparently normal nuclear mechanics but impaired expression of mechanosensitive genes in response to strain, suggesting that emerin mutations may act through altered transcriptional regulation and not by increasing nuclear fragility.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Transgenic overexpression of locally acting insulin-like growth factor-1 inhibits ubiquitin-mediated muscle atrophy in chronic left-ventricular dysfunction.

Metabolic abnormalities develop in various chronic diseases and lead to progressive catabolism with decrements in the skeletal musculature that result in muscle atrophy. We investigated pathways of skeletal muscle proteolysis using an experimental model of chronic left-ventricular dysfunction. Skeletal muscle atrophy developed in wild-type mice 12 weeks following myocardial infarction accompanied by an increase in total protein ubiquitination and enhanced proteasome activity, activation of Foxo transcription factors, and robust induction of the ubiquitin-protein ligase atrogin-1/MAFbx. Further studies identified skeletal muscle myosin as a specific target of ubiquitin-mediated degradation in muscle atrophy. In contrast, transgenic overexpression of a local isoform of insulin-like growth factor-1 prevented muscle atrophy and increased proteasome activity, inhibited skeletal muscle activation primarily of Foxo4, and blocked the expression of atrogin-1/MAFbx. These results suggest that skeletal muscle atrophy occurs through increased activity of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. The inhibition of muscle atrophy by local insulin-like growth factor-1 provides a promising therapeutic avenue for the prevention of skeletal muscle wasting in chronic heart failure and potentially other chronic diseases associated with skeletal muscle atrophy.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and degradation of connexin43 through spatially restricted autocrine/paracrine heparin-binding EGF.

Growth factor signaling can affect tissue remodeling through autocrine/paracrine mechanisms. Recent evidence indicates that EGF receptor transactivation by heparin-binding EGF (HB-EGF) contributes to hypertrophic signaling in cardiomyocytes. Here, we show that HB-EGF operates in a spatially restricted circuit in the extracellular space within the myocardium, revealing the critical nature of the local microenvironment in intercellular signaling. This highly localized microenvironment of HB-EGF signaling was demonstrated with 3D morphology, consistent with predictions from a computational model of EGF signaling. HB-EGF secretion by a given cardiomyocyte in mouse left ventricles led to cellular hypertrophy and reduced expression of connexin43 in the overexpressing cell and in immediately adjacent cells but not in cells farther away. Thus, HB-EGF acts as an autocrine and local paracrine cardiac growth factor that leads to loss of gap junction proteins within a spatially confined microenvironment. These findings demonstrate how cells can coordinate remodeling with their immediate neighboring cells with highly localized extracellular EGF signaling.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2005

Custom design of the cardiac microenvironment with biomaterials.

Many strategies for repairing injured myocardium are under active investigation, with some early encouraging results. These strategies include cell therapies, despite little evidence of long-term survival of exogenous cells, and gene or protein therapies, often with incomplete control of locally-delivered dose of the factor. We propose that, ultimately, successful repair and regeneration strategies will require quantitative control of the myocardial microenvironment. This precision control can be engineered through designed biomaterials that provide quantitative adhesion, growth, or migration signals. Quantitative timed release of factors can be regulated by chemical design to direct cellular differentiation pathways such as angiogenesis and vascular maturation. Smart biomaterials respond to the local environment, such as protease activity or mechanical forces, with controlled release or activation. Most of these new biomaterials provide much greater flexibility for regenerating tissues ex vivo, but emerging technologies like self-assembling nanofibers can now establish intramyocardial cellular microenvironments by injection. This may allow percutaneous cardiac regeneration and repair approaches, or injectable-tissue engineering. Finally, materials can be made to multifunction by providing sequential signals with custom design of differential release kinetics for individual factors. Thus, new rationally-designed biomaterials no longer simply coexist with tissues, but can provide precision bioactive control of the microenvironment that may be required for cardiac regeneration and repair.

Angiogenesis Inducing Agents↗
PubMed2005

Injectable self-assembling peptide nanofibers create intramyocardial microenvironments for endothelial cells.

BACKGROUND: Promoting survival of transplanted cells or endogenous precursors is an important goal. We hypothesized that a novel approach to promote vascularization would be to create injectable microenvironments within the myocardium that recruit endothelial cells and promote their survival and organization. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study we demonstrate that self-assembling peptides can be injected and that the resulting nanofiber microenvironments are readily detectable within the myocardium. Furthermore, the self-assembling peptide nanofiber microenvironments recruit progenitor cells that express endothelial markers, as determined by staining with isolectin and for the endothelial-specific protein platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1. Vascular smooth muscle cells are recruited to the microenvironment and appear to form functional vascular structures. After the endothelial cell population, cells that express alpha-sarcomeric actin and the transcription factor Nkx2.5 infiltrate the peptide microenvironment. When exogenous donor green fluorescent protein-positive neonatal cardiomyocytes were injected with the self-assembling peptides, transplanted cardiomyocytes in the peptide microenvironment survived and also augmented endogenous cell recruitment. CONCLUSIONS: These experiments demonstrate that self-assembling peptides can create nanofiber microenvironments in the myocardium and that these microenvironments promote vascular cell recruitment. Because these peptide nanofibers may be modified in a variety of ways, this approach may enable injectable tissue regeneration strategies.

Animals↗