Project description:Induction of the inhibitory Smad, Smad7 serves as a negative feedback mechanism that restrains TGF-b-mediated actions in injured tissues. In inflammatory cells, Smad7 has been suggested to exert both pro-inflammatory actions attributed to inhibition of TGF-b-induced suppression of inflammation, and anti-inflammatory effects due to disruption of the TAK-1/NF-kB system. Myocardial infarction triggers a macrophage-driven inflammatory response that plays a central role in cardiac repair, but also contributes to adverse remodeling and fibrosis. We hypothesized that Smad7 upregulation in infarct macrophages may play a modulatory role in cardiac repair, by restraining effects of TGF-b. To test the hypothesis, we investigated the response of Myeloid cell-specific Smad7 knockout mice (MyS7KO) following myocardial infarction protocols, and we examined the in vitro effects of Smad7 in isolated macrophages. Smad7 was upregulated in a subset of infarct macrophages, peaking 7 days after infarction. Myeloid cell-specific Smad7 loss did not affect baseline macrophage gene expression and had no significant effects on homeostatic functions. Although RNA-seq analysis predicted that, in the absence of Smad7, infarct macrophages may have attenuated activation of inflammatory pathways and suppressed TREM1 signaling, myeloid cell-specific Smad7 loss had no significant effects on ventricular dysfunction, adverse remodeling, scar remodeling and collagen deposition after myocardial infarction. In isolated macrophages, TGF-b attenuated pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine expression, modulated synthesis of matrix remodeling genes, and had profound effects on macrophage profile, inducing genes associated with activation of sphingosine-1 phosphate and integrin signaling pathways, and inhibiting cholesterol biosynthesis genes. However, RNA-seq and PCR array experiments showed that Smad7 loss has minimal effects on TGF-b-mediated macrophage responses, restraining synthesis of only a small fraction of TGF-b-induced genes, such as Itga5, Olfml3 and Fabp7. Smad7 absence did not affect the anti-inflammatory actions of TGF-b in TNF-stimulated cells. In conclusion, our findings suggest a limited role for macrophage Smad7 in regulation of post-infarction inflammation and repair, and demonstrate that the anti-inflammatory effects of TGF-b in macrophages are not restrained by endogenous Smad7 induction.

Project description:Pericytes have been implicated in regulation of inflammatory, reparative, fibrogenic and angiogenic responses in several different organs and pathologic conditions. Although the adult mammalian heart contains abundant pericytes, their fate and involvement in myocardial disease remains unknown. We used NG2Dsred;PDGFRaEGFP pericyte-fibroblast dual reporter mice and inducible NG2CreER mice to study the fate and phenotypic modulation of pericytes in a model of myocardial infarction. The transcriptomic profile of pericyte-derived fibroblasts was studied using PCR arrays. The transcriptomic profile of NG2 lineage cells (pericytes) was studied in control and infarcted hearts using single cell RNA-sequencing analysis. The role of TGF-b signaling in regulation of pericyte phenotype in vivo was investigated using pericyte-specific Tgfbr2 knockout mice. In vitro, the effects of TGF-b were studied in cultured human placental pericytes.In normal mouse hearts, NG2 and PDGFRa identified distinct non-overlapping populations of pericytes and fibroblasts respectively. Following myocardial infarction, a population of cells expressing both pericyte and fibroblast markers emerged. These cells expressed large amounts of extracellular matrix (ECM) genes. Lineage tracing demonstrated that in the infarcted region, a subpopulation of pericytes underwent fibroblast conversion. Single cell RNA-seq experiments demonstrated expansion and diversification of pericyte-derived cells in the infarct, associated with emergence of subpopulations exhibiting accentuated matrix gene synthesis. In vitro studies and the profile of pericyte-derived fibroblasts identified TGF-b as a potentially causative mediator in fibrogenic activation of infarct pericytes. However, pericyte-specific Tgfbr2 disruption had no significant effects on myofibroblast infiltration and collagen deposition in the infarct. Pericyte-specific TGF-b signaling was involved in vascular maturation, mediating formation of a mural cell coat investing infarct neovessels. These reparative effects of infarct pericytes protected the infarcted heart from dilative remodeling.

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Differential effects of Smad2 and Smad3 in regulation of macrophage phenotype and function in the infarcted myocardium

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