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Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension and Assessment of Right Ventricular Function in the Piglet
Published on: November 4, 2015
Left-right asymmetric ventricular expression of CARP in the piglet heart: regional response to experimental heart
Mario Torrado1, Eduardo López, Alberto Centeno
1Developmental Biology Unit, Institute of Health Sciences, University of La Coruña, Campus de Oza, Building 'El Fortín', Las Xubias s/n, La Coruña 15006, Spain.
Background And Aim:
Cardiac ankyrin repeat protein (CARP), whose expression is down-regulated in response to doxorubicin (Dox) in vitro, has been proposed to be a marker of experimentally-induced cardiac hypertrophy in rodent models. In piglets, the rapid hypertrophy rate of the left ventricle (LV) as compared to that of the right ventricle (RV) represents a natural model of asymmetric ventricular enlargement. We tested whether CARP expression correlates with postnatal ventricular hypertrophy and to what extent CARP can be sensitive to Dox treatment in vivo.
Methods:
CARP mRNA and protein levels were quantified (by Northern blot hybridization, semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot) in the piglet heart, both during early postnatal development and upon Dox-induced cardiomyopathy (Dox-CM).
Results:
The study revealed: (1) significantly augmented CARP mRNA and protein levels in the LV compared to the RV resulting in left vs. right asymmetry in ventricular CARP expression throughout early postnatal development; (2) dose- and chamber-dependent CARP mRNA and protein enrichment in ventricular myocardium in response to Dox; and (3) abolishment of asymmetric patterns of ventricular CARP expression at heart failure resulting from Dox-CM.
Conclusions:
(1) CARP is differentially regulated in the LV and RV during both postnatal development and disease; and (2) monitoring of ventricular CARP expression patterns can be used for further analysis of transition from compensated to overt heart failure.
