title: Long-term activation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase attenuates pressure-overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy.
abstract: Recent in vitro studies suggest that adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) exerts inhibitory effects on cardiac hypertrophy. However, it is unclear whether long-term activation of AMPK will affect cardiac hypertrophy in vivo. In these reports, we investigate the in vivo effects of long-term AMPK activation on cardiac hypertrophy and the related molecular mechanisms. To examine the effects of AMPK activation in the development of pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy, we administered 5-aminoimidazole 1 carboxamide ribonucleoside (AICAR, 0.5 mg/g body wt), a specific activator of AMPK, to rats with transaortic constriction (TAC) for 7 weeks. We found that long-term AMPK activation attenuated cardiac hypertrophy, and improved cardiac function in rats subjected to TAC. Furthermore, long-term AMPK activation attenuated protein synthesis, diminished calcineurin-nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) and nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling in pressure overload-induced hypertrophic hearts. Our in vitro experiments further proved that activation of AMPK by infection of AdAMPK blocked cardiac hypertrophy and NFAT, NF-kappaB, and MAPK signal pathways. The present study demonstrates for the first time that pharmacological activation of AMPK inhibits cardiac hypertrophy in through blocking signaling transduction pathways that are involved in cardiac growth. It presents a potential therapy strategy to inhibit pathological cardiac hypertrophy by increasing the activity of AMPK.
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College Beijing, 100005, PR China.
authors.forename: Hong-Liang
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Dandan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qinglin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yu-Gang
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases; D000620:Aminoimidazole Carboxamide / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D019703:Calcineurin / Q000378:metabolism; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002478:Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes / Q000378:metabolism*; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012265:Ribonucleotides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D017725:Ventricular Pressure / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes; D016328:NF-kappa B; D012265:Ribonucleotides; D000620:Aminoimidazole Carboxamide; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases; D019703:Calcineurin; C031143:AICA ribonucleotide