Targeting of VEGF-mediated angiogenesis to rat myocardium using ultrasonic destruction of microbubbles.

Myocardial angiogenesis mediated by human vascular endothelial growth factor 165 (hVEGF165) cDNA was promoted in rat myocardium using an in vivo-targeted gene delivery system known as ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD). Microbubbles carrying plasmids encoding hVEGF165, or control solutions were infused intravenously during ultrasonic destruction of the microbubbles within the myocardium. Biochemical and histological assessment of gene expression and angiogenesis were performed 5, 10, and 30 days after UTMD. UTMD-treated myocardium contained hVEGF165 protein and mRNA. The myocardium of UTMD-treated animals showed hypercellular foci associated with hVEGF165 expression and endothelial cell markers. Capillary density in UTMD-treated rats increased 18% at 5 days and 33% at 10 days, returning to control levels at 30 days (P<0.0001). Similarly, arteriolar density increased 22% at 5 days, 86% at 10 days, and 31% at 30 days (P<0.0001). Thus, noninvasive delivery of hVEGF165 to rat myocardium by UTMD resulted in significant increases in myocardial capillary and arteriolar density.

Overlapping roles of pocket proteins in the myocardium are unmasked by germ line deletion of p130 plus heart-specific deletion of Rb.

The pocket protein family of tumor suppressors, and Rb specifically, have been implicated as controlling terminal differentiation in many tissues, including the heart. To establish the biological functions of Rb in the heart and overcome the early lethality caused by germ line deletion of Rb, we used a Cre/loxP system to create conditional, heart-specific Rb-deficient mice. Mice that are deficient in Rb exclusively in cardiac myocytes (CRbL/L) are born with the expected Mendelian distribution, and the adult mice displayed no change in heart size, myocyte cell cycle distribution, myocyte apoptosis, or mechanical function. Since both Rb and p130 are expressed in the adult myocardium, we created double-knockout mice (CRbL/L p130-/-) to determine it these proteins have a shared role in regulating cardiac myocyte cell cycle progression. Adult CRbL/L p130-/- mice demonstrated a threefold increase in the heart weight-to-body weight ratio and showed increased numbers of bromodeoxyuridine- and phosphorylated histone H3-positive nuclei, consistent with persistent myocyte cycling. Likewise, the combined deletion of Rb plus p130 up-regulated myocardial expression of Myc, E2F-1, and G1 cyclin-dependent kinase activities, synergistically. Thus, Rb and p130 have overlapping functional roles in vivo to suppress cell cycle activators, including Myc, and maintain quiescence in postnatal cardiac muscle.

A constitutive mutation of ALK5 disrupts cardiac looping and morphogenesis in mice.

TGF beta family members are implicated in cardiac organogenesis, growth control, and positional information, including the direction of cardiac looping. However, genetic analysis of TGF beta signaling in mice has been confounded, in some cases, by noncardiac and generalized defects. Hence, deciphering TGF beta function in myocardium would benefit from cardiac-restricted mutations. We developed a constitutively activated type I receptor, ALK5L193A,P194A,T204D, and directed it to embryonic myocardium in transgenic mice. Expression of the activated ALK5 gene arrests looping morphogenesis and causes a linear, dilated, hypoplastic heart tube, despite normal expression of Nkx2.5 and dHAND, cardiogenic transcription factors whose absence provokes a similar phenotype. Ventricular hypoplasia was associated with precocious induction of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, p21. Thus, an ALK5-sensitive pathway mediates looping, perhaps through control of cardiac myocyte proliferation.

Gene recombination in postmitotic cells. Targeted expression of Cre recombinase provokes cardiac-restricted, site-specific rearrangement in adult ventricular muscle in vivo.

Mouse models of human disease can be generated by homologous recombination for germline loss-of-function mutations. However, embryonic-lethal phenotypes and systemic, indirect dysfunction can confound the use of knock-outs to elucidate adult pathophysiology. Site-specific recombination using Cre recombinase can circumvent these pitfalls, in principle, enabling temporal and spatial control of gene recombination. However, direct evidence is lacking for the feasibility of Cre-mediated recombination in postmitotic cells. Here, we exploited transgenic mouse technology plus adenoviral gene transfer to achieve Cre-mediated recombination in cardiac muscle. In vitro, Cre driven by cardiac-specific alpha-myosin heavy chain (alphaMyHC) sequences elicited recombination selectively at loxP sites in purified cardiac myocytes, but not cardiac fibroblasts. In vivo, this alphaMyHC-Cre transgene elicited recombination in cardiac muscle, but not other organs, as ascertained by PCR analysis and localization of a recombination-dependent reporter protein. Adenoviral delivery of Cre in vivo provoked recombination in postmitotic, adult ventricular myocytes. Recombination between loxP sites was not detected in the absence of Cre. These studies demonstrate the feasibility of using Cre-mediated recombination to regulate gene expression in myocardium, with efficient induction of recombination even in terminally differentiated, postmitotic muscle cells. Moreover, delivery of Cre by viral infection provides a simple strategy to control the timing of recombination in myocardium.

The androgen receptor in the fetal epididymis is similar to that in the mature rabbit.

To provide insight into the mechanism of wolffian duct virilization the androgen receptor has been characterized in pooled epididymal tissue from Day 27 rabbit embryos. Although the receptor is present at levels about a tenth that of other androgen target tissues in rabbit embryos, it appears to be a typical androgen receptor in regard to sedimentation characteristics and preferential binding of 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone over testosterone. Thus, the mechanism by which testosterone virilizes the wolffian duct cannot be explained by unique binding characteristics of the androgen receptor in tissues derived from the wolffian ducts.