Abstract 1224: Rock1 Deletion Prevents Cardiac Dilation And Improves Contractile Function In Pathological Cardiac Hypertrophy

Abstract

The development of left ventricular cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in response to increased hemodynamic load and neurohormonal stress is initially a compensatory response. However, persistent stress eventually leads to dilated heart failure, which is a common cause of heart failure in human hypertensive and valvular heart disease. We have recently reported that ROCK1 homozygous knockout mice exhibited reduced cardiac fibrosis and cardiomyocyte apoptosis, while displayed a preserved compensatory hypertrophic response to pressure overload. Here, we tested effects of ROCK1 deficiency on cardiac hypertrophy, dilation, and dysfunction by using the transgenic Gαq mice which represent a well-characterized and highly relevant genetic mouse model of pathological hypertrophy and heart failure. We have shown that ROCK1 deletion prevented left ventricular dilation and contractile dysfunction in Gαq mice under basal condition. ROCK1 deletion also partially rescued bradycardia and improved contractile response to β-adrenergic stimulation in Gαq mice. Although the development of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy was not affected, ROCK1 deletion in Gαq mice resulted in a concentric hypertrophic phenotype associated with reduced induction of hypertrophic markers. Finally, ROCK1 deletion prevented down-regulation of type V adenylyl cyclase expression, which is a critical molecular defect contributing to the impaired β-adrenergic signaling in Gαq mice. The present study establishes for the first time a role for ROCK1 in cardiac dilation and contractile dysfunction.