Abstract 17904: Deficiency of Yes-associated Protein Promotes Cardiac Dysfunction in Response to Pressure Overload in the Mouse Heart

Abstract

Yes-Associated Protein (YAP), a downstream effector of the Hippo pathway, plays an important role in regulating cell proliferation and survival in mammalian cells. We have shown that cardiac-specific loss of YAP leads to increased cardiomyocyte (CM) apoptosis and impaired hypertrophy during chronic myocardial infarction in the mouse heart. However, it remains unclear whether YAP mediates hypertrophy of individual CMs under stress conditions in vivo. We hypothesized that endogenous YAP plays an essential role in mediating hypertrophy and survival of CMs in response to pressure overload (PO). Three-month-old YAP+/fl;α-MHC-Cre (YAP-cKO) and YAP+/fl (control) mice were subjected to transverse aortic constriction (TAC). Two weeks later, YAP-cKO and control mice developed similar levels of cardiac hypertrophy (left ventricular (LV) weight/tibia length: 7.27±0.38, 6.93±0.29) compared to sham (5.08±0.14, 4.07±0.33). LV CM cross sectional area was similarly increased by TAC in YAP-cKO and control mice compared to their respective shams. Induction of fetal-type genes, such as Anf and Myh7, was also similar in YAP-cKO and control mice. YAP-cKO and control mice exhibited similar baseline LV systolic function (ejection fraction (EF): 75, 76%). YAP-cKO mice had significantly decreased LV function after TAC compared to Sham-control mice (EF: 51%, 76%, p<0.05) and TAC-control mice (75%, p<0.05). LV end diastolic pressure (LVEDP, mmHg) was significantly increased (19.3 ±3.2, 9.8±1.6, p<0.05), and LV +dP/dt (mmHg/s, 7250±588, 9500±453, p<0.01) and -dP/dt (mmHg/s, 6000±433, 7781± 314, p<0.05) were significantly decreased in YAP-cKO compared to in control mice after TAC. LV end diastolic diameter (mm) was significantly greater in YAP-cKO than in control mice after TAC (3.95±0.11, 3.35±0.15, p<0.05), whereas LV pressure was similar, suggesting that LV wall stress was elevated in YAP-cKO compared to in control mice. Since cardiac hypertrophy in YAP-cKO mice is similar to that in control mice despite elevated wall stress, the lack of YAP appears to limit the extent of cardiac hypertrophy in response to increased wall stress. These data suggest that endogenous YAP plays an important role in mediating adaptive hypertrophy and protecting the heart against PO.