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AdipoRon, an adiponectin receptor agonist, attenuates cardiac remodeling induced by pressure overload

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Abstract

AdipoRon, a small-molecule adiponectin receptor (AdipoR) agonist, has been reported to be implicated in cardiovascular diseases. However, its role in pressure-overload-induced cardiac remodeling is still elusive. To elucidate the role of AdipoRon in the pathogenesis of cardiac remodeling in vivo and vitro, in the left ventricle of human end-stage heart failure, the expression of AdipoR2 is upregulated. Meanwhile, increased expression of AdipoR2 was also observed in mice failing hearts. Oral administration of AdipoRon alleviated cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis induced by pressure overload, as evidenced by the beneficial change of cross-sectional area of cardiomyocytes, heart weight-to-body weight ratio, gene expression of hypertrophic markers, ventricle collagen ratio, and cardiac function. The AMPKα activation mediated by AdipoRon significantly inhibited AngII-induced TGF-β1 expression and cardiac fibroblast differentiation, and these inhibitory effects were abrogated by treatment with the AMPK inhibitor Compound C. Consistent with the above results, AdipoRon abolished the ability to retard AngII-induced TGF-β1 expression in AMPKα2−/− cardiac fibroblasts. In AMPKα2−/− mice subjected to aortic banding, AdipoRon abolished the protective effect, as indicated by increased cross-sectional area, cardiac collagen ratio, and cardiac dysfunction. Our results demonstrated that AdipoR2 expression was markedly increased in the failing hearts. AdipoRon inhibited TGF-β1 expression and myofibroblast differentiation in AMPKα-dependent manner in vitro. In line with the vitro results, AMPKα2−/− mice markedly abrogated the inhibitory effects of AdipoRon in cardiac remodeling. These results indicated AdipoRon may hold promise of an effective therapy against pressure-overload-induced cardiac remodeling.

Key messages

• The increased expression of AdipoR2 is observed in human and mice failing hearts, the changeable expression of AdipoR suggests the possible role of AdipoR in cardiac remodeling.

• Oral administration of AdipoRon alleviates cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis induced by pressure overload, and AMPKα activation mediated by AdipoRon significantly inhibited AngII-induced TGF-β1 expression and cardiac fibroblast differentiation.

• These findings provide new mechanistic insight and open new therapeutic pathways for heart failure.

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Funding

This study was supported by grants obtained from the Key Project of the National Natural Science Foundation (No. 81530012), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81470516, No.81270303), National Major Scientific Instrument and Equipment Development Projects (No. 2013YQ03092306), and The prevention and control project of cardiovascular disease (No.2016ZX-008-01).

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Author notes

  1. Ning Zhang and Wen-Ying Wei contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China

    Ning Zhang

  2. Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Jiefang Road 238, Wuhan, 430060, People’s Republic of China

    Ning Zhang, Wen-Ying Wei, Hai-Han Liao, Zheng Yang, Can Hu, Sha-sha Wang, Wei Deng & Qi-Zhu Tang

  3. Cardiovascular Research Institute of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Wen-Ying Wei, Hai-Han Liao, Zheng Yang, Can Hu, Sha-sha Wang, Wei Deng & Qi-Zhu Tang

  4. Hubei Key Laboratory of Cardiology, Wuhan, China

    Wen-Ying Wei, Hai-Han Liao & Qi-Zhu Tang

Authors
  1. Ning Zhang
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  2. Wen-Ying Wei
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Wei Deng or Qi-Zhu Tang.

Ethics declarations

All the procedures and written informed consent were obtained from the families of the prospective heart donors. All the procedures complied with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and were approved by the Ethics Committee at the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, China.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Zhang, N., Wei, WY., Liao, HH. et al. AdipoRon, an adiponectin receptor agonist, attenuates cardiac remodeling induced by pressure overload. J Mol Med 96, 1345–1357 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00109-018-1696-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00109-018-1696-8

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