title: Overexpression of mitofilin in the mouse heart promotes cardiac hypertrophy in response to hypertrophic stimuli.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Mitofilin was originally described as a heart muscle protein because of its abundance in the heart tissue; however, its function in the heart is still to be elucidated. Thus, this study aims at investigating the role of mitofilin in the heart in response to hypertrophic stimuli.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, a significant increase in mitofilin expression was observed in the hearts of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Transgenic (TG) mice with cardiomyocyte-specific overexpression of mitofilin were generated, and cardiac hypertrophy was introduced by transverse aortic constriction (TAC) or chronic infusion of isoproterenol (ISO). In TG mice overexpressing mitofilin, the level of cardiac hypertrophy was significantly greater than that in wild-type (WT) mice after TAC and ISO stimulation. A detailed analysis showed that compared with WT mice, the level of reactive oxygen species was increased after TAC and ISO induction and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) activity in the TG hearts was lower. These alterations may contribute to the aggravated cardiac hypertrophy observed in response to TAC and ISO stimulation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Over-expression of mitofilin promotes cardiac hypertrophy under pathological conditions both in vivo and in vitro.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mitofilin, a mitochondria protein, is shown to be related to cardiac hypertrophy for the first time, which enhances our understanding of the role of mitochondria in cardiac hypertrophy.
authors.affiliation: 1 State Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College , Beijing, People's Republic of China .
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yu-Xuan
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Xi-Zhou
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hongliang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hou-Zao
authors.initials: HZ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: De-Pei
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000378:metabolism*; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic / Q000378:metabolism*; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007545:Isoproterenol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: C088548:IMMT protein, human; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D007545:Isoproterenol