Abstract 1008: A Protective Role for Cardiac Specific Muscle Ring Finger-1 (MuRF1) in Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury In Vivo

Abstract

We previously identified a critical role for MuRF1 in suppressing pathologic cardiac hypertrophy. To extend these observations to other pathologic processes, we tested the role of MuRF1 in cardiac ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury. We challenged MuRF1 transgenic (Tg) mice to I/R injury both ex situ and in vivo. First, we examined isolated MuRF1 Tg and age-matched sibling wild-type (WT) hearts after global ischemia (15 min) followed by reperfusion (20 min) in a Langendorff apparatus. Baseline function of MuRF1 Tg hearts did not significantly differ from WT hearts (mean left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) 88.5 +/− 18 vs. 82.5 +/− 6.7, respectively; n = 4/group). Mean LVDP of hearts from MuRF1 Tg mice after reperfusion was 76.0 +/− 22.9% of baseline function compared to 27.2 +/− 13.3% in WT hearts (N = 5/group, P< 0.05)). To confirm that MuRF1 is cardioprotective in vivo, we subjected MuRF1 Tg and WT mice to a 30 minute ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery, followed by 24 hours reperfusion. Mice underwent conscious echocardiography at baseline and after 24 hours; cardiac function was further interrogated by Millar pressure volume catheterization at 24 hours. Additionally, hearts underwent a histological evaluation of area at risk and infarct size. By echocardiography, a ~7% decrease in fractional shortening was identified in MuRF1 Tg mice after 24 hours reperfusion compared to baseline. This was in striking contrast to WT mice, which exhibited ~48% decrease in fractional shortening. Steady state catheterization measurements showed a significantly higher ejection fraction in MuRF1 Tg compared to WT mice after I/R injury (81.6 ± 2.3% vs. 49.0 +/− 4.0%, P < 0.05). Contractility reflected by +dP/dt max was better preserved in MuRF1 Tg compared to WT mice after I/R injury (12,614 +/− 776 vs. 7,448 +/−752, N = 3–12/group, P < 0.05). Histologically, the area of infarct in MuRF1 Tg mice was significantly smaller (10.0 +/− 0.8%) than in WT mice (25.5 +/− 2.5%, N = 4/group, P < 0.05). We demonstrate here for the first time that cardiac MuRF1 expression preserves function after I/R injury in vivo. Since MuRF1 is known to interact with metabolic and structural targets, this model will allow us to identify mechanisms by which MuRF1 modifies cardiac pathophysiology.