Loss of Caveolin‐3 (Cav‐3) Promotes G‐protein‐regulated Matrix Metalloprotease 14 (MMP14) Activation in the Aged Heart

Abstract

Age‐associated cardiovascular disease significantly correlates with morbidity and mortality worldwide; therefore, investigation of cellular signaling pathways in the heart that change with age may help identify novel therapeutic strategies for mitigating the progression of cardiovascular pathologies. Our lab has uncovered a membrane‐delimited receptor transactivation pathway in the heart, wherein G‐protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) signal via heterotrimeric G‐proteins to activate membrane‐tethered matrix metalloprotease 14 (MMP14/MT1‐MMP) and consequently induce “shedding” of membrane‐bound receptor ligands (J Biol Chem 290: 9941‐7). Specifically, G‐protein‐regulated MMP14 releases heparin‐binding EGF‐like growth factor (HB‐EGF), which then triggers activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling. We hypothesized that the components of this mechanism are compartmentalized within caveolar lipid raft domains (i.e. cholesterol‐rich membranes containing caveolin‐1 (Cav‐1) and caveolin‐3 (Cav‐3) isoforms), wherein co‐localization with caveolin proteins serves to repress MMP14 enzymatic activity. Furthermore, we hypothesized that age‐dependent loss of Cav‐3 in the heart increases MMP14 activity and thereby alters the signaling pathway to contribute to deleterious cardiac aging phenotypes. We thus sought to compare changes in G‐protein‐regulated MMP14 activity and subsequent activation of HB‐EGF/EGFR signaling in membrane fractions isolated from cardiac myocytes (CMs) and cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) of young (2–3 month) and aged (18–21 month) mice, with or without transgenic CM‐specific overexpression of Cav‐3 (i.e., Cav‐3 OE), to determine if preserved Cav‐3 expression prevents or lessens harmful age‐associated membrane signaling. We observed approximately a two‐fold increase of MMP14 activity in membranes from CMs of aged wild‐type (WT) mice compared to young controls (p< 0.05). Immunoblot analysis of buoyant fractions isolated by differential centrifugation of cardiac tissue in a discontinuous sucrose density gradient confirmed that MMP14, G‐proteins, HB‐EGF, and EGFR co‐localize with caveolin protein isoforms in lipid rafts. Work in progress will test if co‐localization of these proteins is reduced in aged wild‐type (WT) animals but not in Cav‐3 OE animals, and if MMP14 and Cav‐3 co‐immunoprecipitate (co‐IP) within lipid raft domains and thus form a functional signaling module that is disrupted in aged WT subjects but remains intact in Cav‐3 OE mice. Taken together, the results suggest that GPCR transactivation of EGFR and regulation by signaling components in caveolar lipid rafts may be a feature of membrane signaling that is altered in the aged heart.Support or Funding InformationSupported by NIH grants R21AG053568 and R21AG52914.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.