期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:2002
卷号:99
期号:2
页码:907-912
DOI:10.1073/pnas.231619298
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:The adult myocardium responds to a variety of pathologic stimuli by hypertrophic growth that frequently progresses to heart failure. The calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase calcineurin is a potent transducer of hypertrophic stimuli. Calcineurin dephosphorylates members of the nuclear factor of activated T cell (NFAT) family of transcription factors, which results in their translocation to the nucleus and activation of calcium-dependent genes. Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) phosphorylates NFAT proteins and antagonizes the actions of calcineurin by stimulating NFAT nuclear export. To determine whether activated GSK-3 can act as an antagonist of hypertrophic signaling in the adult heart in vivo, we generated transgenic mice that express a constitutively active form of GSK-3{beta} under control of a cardiac-specific promoter. These mice were physiologically normal under nonstressed conditions, but their ability to mount a hypertrophic response to calcineurin activation was severely impaired. Similarly, cardiac-specific expression of activated GSK-3{beta} diminished hypertrophy in response to chronic {beta}-adrenergic stimulation and pressure overload. These findings reveal a role for GSK-3{beta} as an inhibitor of hypertrophic signaling in the intact myocardium and suggest that elevation of cardiac GSK-3{beta} activity may provide clinical benefit in the treatment of pathologic hypertrophy and heart failure.