Epidermal growth factor promotes a cardiomyoblastic phenotype in human fetal cardiac myocytes

Peptide growth factors likely play an important role in cardiac development, but growth factors which inhibit or prevent differentiation in cardiac myocytes are largely unknown. Using immunocytochemistry, Western and Northern blotting, and RNase protection assays, we demonstrate that epidermal growth factor (EGF) significantly inhibits differentiation and promotes proliferation in cultured human fetal ventricular cardiac myocyte cell lines. In enriched cell lines and in a pure myocyte cell strain, EGF inhibited increases in immunoreactive sarcomeric actin and sarcomeric myosin heavy chain (SMHC) normally seen after serum withdrawal. In the pure myocyte strain, EGF induced a cardiomyoblastic phenotype; i.e., it caused a complete loss of detectable sarcomeric proteins in the majority of cells; it was also mitogenic. EGF inhibited expression of cardiac alpha-actin and SMHC mRNAs, but inhibition of SMHC expression was predominantly of the beta-MHC isoform. Removal of EGF was followed by reexpression of sarcomeric proteins. Blocking the EGF receptor (EGFR) with monoclonal anti-receptor antibody completely abolished the dedifferentiating effects of EGF and also significantly reduced the mitogenic effect of the peptide. The results indicate that activation of the EGFR both inhibits differentiation and promotes proliferation of human fetal ventricular myocytes in vitro. These findings suggest an important role for EGF in human cardiac differentiation and development.