title: Downregulation of GSTK1 Is a Common Mechanism Underlying Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
abstract: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized by left ventricular hypertrophy and is associated with a number of potential outcomes, including impaired diastolic function, heart failure, and sudden cardiac death. Various etiologies have been described for HCM, including pressure overload and mutations in sarcomeric and non-sarcomeric genes. However, the molecular pathogenesis of HCM remains incompletely understood. In this study, we performed comparative transcriptome analysis to identify dysregulated genes common to five mouse HCM models of differing etiology: (i) mutation of myosin heavy chain 6, (ii) mutation of tropomyosin 1, (iii) expressing human phospholamban on a null background, (iv) knockout of frataxin, and (v) transverse aortic constriction. Gene-by-gene comparison identified five genes dysregulated in all five HCM models. Glutathione S-transferase kappa 1 (Gstk1) was significantly downregulated in the five models, whereas myosin heavy chain 7 (Myh7), connective tissue growth factor (Ctgf), periostin (Postn), and reticulon 4 (Rtn4) were significantly upregulated. Gene ontology comparison revealed that 51 cellular processes were significantly enriched in genes dysregulated in each transcriptome dataset. Among them, six processes (oxidative stress, aging, contraction, developmental process, cell differentiation, and cell proliferation) were related to four of the five genes dysregulated in all HCM models. GSTK1 was related to oxidative stress only, whereas the other four genes were related to all six cell processes except MYH7 for oxidative stress. Gene-gene functional interaction network analysis suggested correlative expression of GSTK1, MYH7, and actin alpha 2 (ACTA2). To investigate the implications of Gstk1 downregulation for cardiac function, we knocked out gstk1 in zebrafish using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas9 system. We found that expression of the zebrafish homologs of MYH7, ACTA2, and actin alpha 1 were increased in the gstk1-knockout zebrafish. In vivo imaging of zebrafish expressing a fluorescent protein in cardiomyocytes showed that gstk1 deletion significantly decreased the end diastolic volume and, to a lesser extent, end systolic volume. These results suggest that downregulation of GSTK1 may be a common mechanism underlying HCM of various etiologies, possibly through increasing oxidative stress and the expression of sarcomere genes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu Japan.
authors.forename: Shota
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sasagawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, TsuJapan; Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoinformatics, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, TsuJapan; Mie University Medical Zebrafish Research Center, TsuJapan; Department of Omics Medicine, Mie University Industrial Technology Innovation Institute, TsuJapan; Department of Bioinformatics, Mie University Life Science Research Center, TsuJapan.
authors.forename: Yuhei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoinformatics, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu Japan.
authors.forename: Shiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoinformatics, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu Japan.
authors.forename: Soichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoinformatics, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ashikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoinformatics, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu Japan.
authors.forename: Mizuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yuge
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu Japan.
authors.forename: Koki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawaguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu Japan.
authors.forename: Reiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawase
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Nephrology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu Japan.
authors.forename: Ryuji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Nephrology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu Japan.
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, TsuJapan; Mie University Medical Zebrafish Research Center, TsuJapan; Department of Omics Medicine, Mie University Industrial Technology Innovation Institute, TsuJapan; Department of Bioinformatics, Mie University Life Science Research Center, TsuJapan.
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
keywords: CRISPR/Cas9; GSTK1; comparative transcriptomics; hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; mitochondria; oxidative stress; systems pharmacology; zebrafish