Notch3 Modulates Cardiac Fibroblast Proliferation, Apoptosis, and Fibroblast to Myofibroblast Transition via Negative Regulation of the RhoA/ROCK/Hif1α Axis

Frontiers in Physiology

Jinqi Fan¹  Peilin Xiao²  Yunlin Chen²  Jianli Shi²  Xiaoli Liu²  Yuehui Yin²  Yanping Xu² 

[1] Department of Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States;Department of Cardiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China;

关键词: notch;    cardiac fibroblast;    cardiac fibrosis;    myocardial infarction;    extracellular matrix;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fphys.2020.00669

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Cardiac fibrosis is a common pathological process in multiple cardiovascular diseases, including myocardial infarction (MI). Abnormal cardiac fibroblast (CF) activity is a key event in cardiac fibrosis. Although the Notch signaling pathway has been reported to play a vital role in protection from cardiac fibrosis, the exact mechanisms underlying cardiac fibrosis and protection from it have not yet been elucidated. Similarly, Hif1α and the RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway have been shown to participate in cardiac fibrosis. The RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway has been reported to be an upstream pathway of Hif1α in several pathophysiological processes. In the present study, we aimed to determine the effects of notch3 on CF activity and its relationship with the RhoA/ROCK/Hif1α signaling pathway. Using in vitro experiments, we demonstrated that notch3 inhibited CF proliferation and fibroblast to myofibroblast transition (FMT) and promoted CF apoptosis. A knockdown of notch3 using siRNAs had the exact opposite effect. Next, we found that notch3 regulated CF activity by negative regulation of the RhoA/ROCK/Hif1α signaling pathway. Extending CF-based studies to an in vivo rat MI model, we showed that overexpression of notch3 by the Ad-N3ICD injection attenuated the increase of RhoA, ROCK1, ROCK2, and Hif1α levels following MI and further prevented MI-induced cardiac fibrosis. On the basis of these results, we conclude that notch3 is involved in the regulation of several aspects of CF activity, including proliferation, FMT, and apoptosis, by inhibiting the RhoA/ROCK/Hif1α signaling pathway. These findings are significant to further our understanding of the pathogenesis of cardiac fibrosis and to ultimately identify new therapeutic targets for cardiac fibrosis, potentially based on the RhoA/ROCK/Hif1α signaling pathway.

【 授权许可】

Unknown