Non-targeted metabolomics analysis of cardiac Muscle Ring Finger-1 (MuRF1), MuRF2, and MuRF3 in vivo reveals novel and redundant metabolic changes.
The muscle-specific ubiquitin ligases MuRF1, MuRF2, MuRF3 have been reported to have overlapping substrate specificities, interacting with each other as well as proteins involved in metabolism and cardiac function. In the heart, all three MuRF family proteins have proven critical to cardiac responses to ischemia and heart failure. The non-targeted metabolomics analysis of MuRF1-/-, MuRF2-/-, and MuRF3-/- hearts was initiated to investigate the hypothesis that MuRF1, MuRF2, and MuRF3 have a similarly altered metabolome, representing alterations in overlapping metabolic processes. Ventricular tissue was flash frozen and quantitatively analyzed by GC/MS using a library built upon the Fiehn GC/MS Metabolomics RTL Library. Non-targeted metabolomic analysis identified significant differences (via VIP statistical analysis) in taurine, myoinositol, and stearic acid for the three MuRF-/- phenotypes relative to their matched controls. Moreover, pathway enrichment analysis demonstrated that MuRF1-/- had significant changes in metabolite(s) involved in taurine metabolism and primary acid biosynthesis while MuRF2-/- had changes associated with ascorbic acid/aldarate metabolism (via VIP and t-test analysis vs. sibling-matched wildtype controls). By identifying the functional metabolic consequences of MuRF1, MuRF2, and MuRF3 in the intact heart, non-targeted metabolomics analysis discovered common pathways functionally affected by cardiac MuRF family proteinsin vivo. These novel metabolomics findings will aid in guiding the molecular studies delineating the mechanisms that MuRF family proteins regulate metabolic pathways. Understanding these mechanism is an important key to understanding MuRF family proteins' protective effects on the heart during cardiac disease.
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC USA.
Ranjan
R
Banerjee
General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, P. R. China; Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC USA.
Jun
J
He
Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC USA.
Carolyn
C
Spaniel
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC USA.
Megan T
MT
Quintana
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC USA.
Zhongjing
Z
Wang
Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center, Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
James
J
Bain
Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center, Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
Christopher B
CB
Newgard
Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center, Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
Michael J
MJ
Muehlbauer
Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC USA; McAllister Heart Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC USA.
Monte S
MS
Willis
MuRF2; MuRF3; Muscle Ring Finger-1 (MuRF1); cardiac; metabolomics; ubiquitin ligase