Abstract 13921: Targeting Receptor-Interacting Protein 140 to Modulate Energy Metabolism in the Failing Heart

Abstract

The nuclear receptors, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), estrogen-related receptors (ERRs), and their co-regulator PPARγ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α), control postnatal cardiac mitochondrial biogenesis and energy metabolism. During the development of heart failure (HF), the activity of PGC-1/PPAR/ERR is reduced resulting in diminished capacity for fatty acid oxidation (FAO) and ATP production potentially contributing to an “energy-starved” state that contributes to progression of HF. Receptor-Interacting protein 140 (RIP140) serves as a co-repressor of PGC-1/PPAR/ERR in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. We hypothesized that RIP140 represses cardiac energy metabolism in the normal and failing heart. Accordingly, we targeted Nrip1 (encoding RIP140) using a muscle creatinine kinase (MCK)-driven Cre recombinase to generate striated muscle-specific RIP140 knockout (msRIP140 KO) mice. msRIP140 KO mice appeared normal at baseline with no difference in survival or cardiac systolic function compared to littermate controls. RNA-sequence analysis demonstrated that the expression of genes involved in a wide array of mitochondrial energy metabolic pathways including FAO, tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), and branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) degradation pathways were upregulated in msRIP140 KO ventricles, and in msRIP140 KO skeletal muscle. msRIP140 KO mice exhibited significantly less cardiac hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction in response to chronic pressure overload. Next, cardiac-specific (cs) RIP140 KO mice were generated and subjected to transverse aortic constriction/apical myocardial infarction surgery (TAC/MI), an established HF model. csRIP140 KO mice exhibited less cardiac remodeling and systolic dysfunction compared to littermate controls, along with less downregulation of metabolic genes and induction of cardiac stress ( Nppa and Nppb ) and fibrosis response markers ( Tgfb2 and Col3a1 ). We conclude that RIP140 serves as a global co-repressor of cardiac energy metabolic genes in the adult heart and that modulation of RIP140 activity could prove to be a novel therapeutic approach for HF.