2. Academic Validation
  3. Chemokine CCL2 promotes cardiac regeneration and repair in myocardial infarction mice via activation of the JNK/STAT3 axis

Chemokine CCL2 promotes cardiac regeneration and repair in myocardial infarction mice via activation of the JNK/STAT3 axis

  • Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2023 Dec 12. doi: 10.1038/s41401-023-01198-0.
Wei Wang # 1 2,  Xiao-Kang Chen # 1 2,  Lu Zhou 1 2,  Feng Wang 1 2,  Yan-Ji He 1 2,  Bing-Jun Lu 1 2,  Ze-Gang Hu 3,  Zhu-Xin Li 1 2,  Xue-Wei Xia 1 2,  Wei Eric Wang 4,  Chun-Yu Zeng 5 6 7 8,  Liang-Peng Li 9 10
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Cardiology, Daping Hospital, The Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400042, China.
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Geriatric Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease Research, Ministry of Education of China; Chongqing Key Laboratory for Hypertension Research, Chongqing Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center, Chongqing Institute of Cardiology, Chongqing, 400042, China.
  • 3 Department of Laboratory Animal Center, Daping Hospital, The Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400042, China.
  • 4 Department of Geriatrics, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China.
  • 5 Department of Cardiology, Daping Hospital, The Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400042, China. [email protected].
  • 6 Key Laboratory of Geriatric Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease Research, Ministry of Education of China; Chongqing Key Laboratory for Hypertension Research, Chongqing Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center, Chongqing Institute of Cardiology, Chongqing, 400042, China. [email protected].
  • 7 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Daping Hospital, The Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400042, China. [email protected].
  • 8 Cardiovascular Research Center of Chongqing College, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China. [email protected].
  • 9 Department of Cardiology, Daping Hospital, The Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400042, China. [email protected].
  • 10 Key Laboratory of Geriatric Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease Research, Ministry of Education of China; Chongqing Key Laboratory for Hypertension Research, Chongqing Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center, Chongqing Institute of Cardiology, Chongqing, 400042, China. [email protected].
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 38086898 DOI: 10.1038/s41401-023-01198-0
Abstract

Stimulation of adult cardiomyocyte proliferation is a promising strategy for treating myocardial infarction (MI). Earlier studies have shown increased CCL2 levels in plasma and cardiac tissue both in MI patients and mouse models. In present study we investigated the role of CCL2 in cardiac regeneration and the underlying mechanisms. MI was induced in adult mice by permanent ligation of the left anterior descending artery, we showed that the serum and cardiac CCL2 levels were significantly increased in MI mice. Intramyocardial injection of recombinant CCL2 (rCCL2, 1 μg) immediately after the surgery significantly promoted cardiomyocyte proliferation, improved survival rate and cardiac function, and diminished scar sizes in post-MI mice. Alongside these beneficial effects, we observed an increased angiogenesis and decreased cardiomyocyte Apoptosis in post-MI mice. Conversely, treatment with a selective CCL2 synthesis inhibitor Bindarit (30 μM) suppressed both CCL2 expression and cardiomyocyte proliferation in P1 neonatal rat ventricle myocytes (NRVMs). We demonstrated in NRVMs that the CCL2 stimulated cardiomyocyte proliferation through STAT3 signaling: treatment with rCCL2 (100 ng/mL) significantly increased the phosphorylation levels of STAT3, whereas a STAT3 phosphorylation inhibitor Stattic (30 μM) suppressed rCCL2-induced cardiomyocyte proliferation. In conclusion, this study suggests that CCL2 promotes cardiac regeneration via activation of STAT3 signaling, underscoring its potential as a therapeutic agent for managing MI and associated heart failure.

Keywords

Bindarit; CCL2; PF-4136309; STAT3; cardiomyocyte proliferation; myocardial infarction; neonatal rat ventricle myocytes; stattic.

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