Copyright © 2007, European Society of Cardiology
Dilated cardiomyopathy is associated with reduced expression of the cardiac sodium channel Scn5a
aDepartment of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 4N1
bFaculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 4N1
cDepartment of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 4N1
dCentre for Bioengineering Research and Education, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada T2N 4N1
* Corresponding author. Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, HSC Room 2279, 3330 Hospital Drive, N.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1. Tel.: +1 403 220 6876; fax: +1 403 270 0737. jcross{at}ucalgary.ca
Objective Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) leads to dilation of the cardiac chambers and congestive heart failure. Recent reports have associated mutations in the SCN5A gene, which codes for the major cardiac sodium channel Nav1.5, with DCM. Although DCM is the most common form of cardiomyopathy, no animal studies have established this functional connection.
Methods and results We have produced transgenic mice that ectopically express the transcriptional repressor Snail in heart. These animals display severe DCM, ECG abnormalities, conduction defects, revealed by voltage-sensitive dye imaging, and significantly reduced voltage-gated sodium current as measured by patch clamping. There is a concomitant decrease in expression of the major cardiac sodium channel gene Scn5a, which we show by gene reporter assays and electrophoretic mobility shift assays is a direct target of Snail.
Conclusions Our findings indicate that a decrease in Scn5a expression and significant reduction in sodium current can result in DCM, and support the hypothesis that some mutations in the human SCN5A gene can lead to DCM.
KEYWORDS Cardiomyopathy; Gene expression; Heart failure; Transgenic animal models; Na-channel
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