MicroRNA-22 regulates cardiac hypertrophy and remodeling in response to stress

The adult heart is composed primarily of terminally differentiated, mature cardiomyocytes that express signature genes related to contraction. In response to mechanical or pathological stress, the heart undergoes hypertrophic growth, a process defined as an increase in cardiomyocyte cell size without an increase in cell number. However, the molecular mechanism of cardiac hypertrophy is not fully understood.

To identify and characterize microRNAs that regulate cardiac hypertrophy and remodeling.

Screening for muscle-expressed microRNAs that are dynamically regulated during muscle differentiation and hypertrophy identified microRNA-22 (miR-22) as a cardiac- and skeletal muscle-enriched microRNA that is upregulated during myocyte differentiation and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Overexpression of miR-22 was sufficient to induce cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. We generated mouse models with global and cardiac-specific miR-22 deletion, and we found that cardiac miR-22 was essential for hypertrophic cardiac growth in response to stress. miR-22-null hearts blunted cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac remodeling in response to 2 independent stressors: isoproterenol infusion and an activated calcineurin transgene. Loss of miR-22 sensitized mice to the development of dilated cardiomyopathy under stress conditions. We identified Sirt1 and Hdac4 as miR-22 targets in the heart.

Our studies uncover miR-22 as a critical regulator of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and cardiac remodeling.