Enhanced recovery from ischemia-reperfusion injury in PI3Kα dominant negative hearts: investigating the role of alternate PI3K isoforms, increased glucose oxidation and MAPK signaling. McLean BA, Kienesberger PC, Wang W, Masson G, Zhabyeyev P, Dyck JR, Oudit GY. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2013 Jan;54:9-18.

Classical ischemia–reperfusion (IR) preconditioning relies on phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) for protective signaling. Surprisingly, inhibition of PI3Kα activity using a dominant negative (DN) strategy protected the murine heart from IR injury. It has been proposed that increased signaling through PI3Kγ may contribute to the improved recovery of PI3KαDN hearts following IR. To investigate the mechanism by which PI3KαDN hearts are protected from IR injury, we created a double mutant (PI3KDM) model by crossing p110γ−/– (PI3KγKO) with cardiac-specific PI3KαDN mice. The PI3KDM model has morphological and hemodynamic features that are characteristic of both PI3Kγ–/– and PI3KαDN mice. Interestingly, when subjected to IR using ex vivo Langendorff perfusion, PI3KDM hearts showed significantly enhanced functional recovery when compared to wildtype (WT) hearts. However, signaling downstream of PI3K through Akt and GSK3β, which has been associated with IR protection, was reduced in PI3KDM hearts. Using ex vivo working heart perfusion, we found no difference in functional recovery after IR between PI3KDM and PI3KαDN; also, glucose oxidation rates were significantly increased in PI3KαDN hearts when compared to WT, and this metabolic shift has been associated with enhanced IR recovery. However, we found that PI3KαDN hearts still had enhanced recovery when perfused exclusively with fatty acids (FA). We then investigated parallel signaling pathways, and found that mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling was increased in PI3KαDN hearts, possibly through the inhibition of negative feedback loops downstream of PI3Kα.

Read online -https://www.jmmc-online.com/article/S0022-2828(12)00397-5/fulltext?code=yjmcc-site

Infarct-remodelled hearts with limited oxidative capacity boost fatty acid oxidation after conditioning against ischaemia/reperfusion injury. Lou PH, Zhang L, Lucchinetti E, Heck M, Affolter A, Gandhi M, Kienesberger PC, Hersberger M, Clanachan AS, Zaugg M. Cardiovasc Res. 2013 Feb 1;97(2):251-61.

Aims

Infarct-remodelled hearts are less amenable to protection against ischaemia/reperfusion. Understanding preservation of energy metabolism in diseased vs. healthy hearts may help to develop anti-ischaemic strategies effective also in jeopardized myocardium.

Methods and results

Isolated infarct-remodelled/sham Sprague–Dawley rat hearts were perfused in the working mode and subjected to 15 min of ischaemia and 30 min of reperfusion. Protection of post-ischaemic ventricular work was achieved by pharmacological conditioning with sevoflurane. Oxidative metabolism was measured by substrate flux in fatty acid and glucose oxidation using [3H]palmitate and [14C]glucose. Mitochondrial oxygen consumption was measured in saponin-permeabilized left ventricular muscle fibres. Activity assays of citric acid synthase, hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, and pyruvate dehydrogenase and mass spectrometry for acylcarnitine profiling were also performed. Six weeks after coronary artery ligation, the hearts exhibited macroscopic and molecular signs of hypertrophy consistent with remodelling and limited respiratory chain and citric acid cycle capacity. Unprotected remodelled hearts showed a marked decline in palmitate oxidation and acetyl-CoA energy production after ischaemia/reperfusion, which normalized in sevoflurane-protected remodelled hearts. Protected remodelled hearts also showed higher β-oxidation flux as determined by increased oxygen consumption with palmitoylcarnitine/malate in isolated fibres and a lower ratio of C16:1+C16OH/C14 carnitine species, indicative of a higher long-chain hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase activity. Remodelled hearts exhibited higher PPARα-PGC-1α but defective HIF-1α signalling, and conditioning enabled them to mobilize fatty acids from endogenous triglyceride stores, which closely correlated with improved recovery.

Conclusions

Protected infarct-remodelled hearts secure post-ischaemic energy production by activation of β-oxidation and mobilization of fatty acids from endogenous triglyceride stores.

Read online – https://academic.oup.com/cardiovascres/article/97/2/251/333776

Single phosphorylation sites in Acc1 and Acc2 regulate lipid homeostasis and the insulin-sensitizing effects of metformin. Fullerton MD, Galic S, Marcinko K, Sikkema S, Pulinilkunnil T, Chen ZP, O’Neill HM, Ford RJ, Palanivel R, O’Brien M, Hardie DG, Macaulay SL, Schertzer JD, Dyck JR, van Denderen BJ, Kemp BE, Steinberg GR. Nat Med. 2013 Dec;19(12):1649-54.

The obesity epidemic has led to an increased incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes. AMP-activated protein kinase (Ampk) regulates energy homeostasis and is activated by cellular stress, hormones and the widely prescribed type 2 diabetes drug metformin. Ampk phosphorylates mouse acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (Acc1; refs. 3,4) at Ser79 and Acc2 at Ser212, inhibiting the conversion of acetyl-CoA to malonyl-CoA. The latter metabolite is a precursor in fatty acid synthesis and an allosteric inhibitor of fatty acid transport into mitochondria for oxidation. To test the physiological impact of these phosphorylation events, we generated mice with alanine knock-in mutations in both Acc1 (at Ser79) and Acc2 (at Ser212) (Acc double knock-in, AccDKI). Compared to wild-type mice, these mice have elevated lipogenesis and lower fatty acid oxidation, which contribute to the progression of insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and NAFLD, but not obesity. Notably, AccDKI mice made obese by high-fat feeding are refractory to the lipid-lowering and insulin-sensitizingeffects of metformin. These findings establish that inhibitory phosphorylation of Acc by Ampk is essential for the control of lipid metabolism and, in the setting of obesity, for metformin-induced improvements in insulin action.

Read online – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4965268/