Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

In humans, cytoskeletal dystrophin and muscle LIM protein (MLP) gene mutations can cause dilated cardiomyopathy, yet these mutations may have different effects in mice, owing to increased accumulation of other, compensatory cytoskeletal proteins. Consequently, we characterized left-ventricular (LV) morphology and function in vivo using high-resolution cine-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 2- to 3-month old dystrophin-deficient (mdx) and MLP-null mice, and their respective controls. LV passive stiffness was assessed in isolated, perfused hearts, and cytoskeletal protein levels were determined using Western blot analyses. In mdx mouse hearts, LV-to-body weight ratio, cavity volume, ejection fraction, stroke volume, and cardiac output were normal. However, MLP-null mouse hearts had 1.2-fold higher LV-to-body weight ratios (P<0.01), 1.5-fold higher end-diastolic volumes (P<0.01), and decreased ejection fraction compared with controls (25% vs. 66%, respectively, P<0.01), indicating dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure. In both models, isolated, perfused heart end-diastolic pressure-volume relationships and passive left-ventricular stiffness were normal. Hearts from both models accumulated desmin and beta-tubulin, mdx mouse hearts accumulated utrophin and MLP, and MLP-null mouse hearts accumulated dystrophin and syncoilin. Although the increase in MLP and utrophin in the mdx mouse heart was able to compensate for the loss of dystrophin, accumulation of desmin, syncoilin and dystrophin were unable to compensate for the loss of MLP, resulting in heart failure.

Original publication

DOI

10.1096/fj.04-1731fje

Type

Journal article

Journal

FASEB J

Publication Date

01/2005

Volume

19

Pages

79 - 81

Keywords

Animals, Autonomic Nervous System Diseases, Cardiomyopathies, Cytoskeletal Proteins, Disease Models, Animal, Dystrophin, Electrocardiography, Fibrosis, Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic, Heart, LIM Domain Proteins, Macrophages, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Inbred mdx, Muscle Proteins, Myocarditis, Myocardium, Myocytes, Cardiac, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Nitric Oxide, Nitric Oxide Synthase, Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I, Transgenes