Partial resistance to thyroid hormone-induced tachycardia and cardiac hypertrophy in mice lacking thyroid hormone receptor beta

Dore, R.; Sentis, S. C.; Johann, K.; Lopez-Alcantara, N.; Resch, J.; Moeller, L. C.; Fuehrer, D.; Obermayer-Wasserscheid, B.; Opitz, R.; Mittag, J.

doi:10.1101/2023.11.21.567193

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2023.11.21.567193

Partial resistance to thyroid hormone-induced tachycardia and cardiac hypertrophy in mice lacking thyroid hormone receptor beta

Dore, R.·Sentis, S. C.·Johann, K.·Lopez-Alcantara, N.·Resch, J.·Moeller, L. C.·Fuehrer, D.·Obermayer-Wasserscheid, B.·Opitz, R.·Mittag, J.

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

BackgroundThyroid hormones regulate cardiac functions mainly via direct actions in the heart and binding to the thyroid hormone receptor (TR) isoforms 1 and {beta}. While the role of the most abundantly expressed isoform, TR1, is widely studied and well characterized, the role of TR{beta} in regulating heart functions is still poorly understood, primarily due to the accompanying elevation of circulating thyroid hormone in mice lacking TR{beta} (TR{beta}-KO). However, their hyperthyroidism is ameliorated at thermoneutrality, which allows studying the role of TR{beta} without this confounding factor. MethodsHere we non-invasively monitored heart rate in TR{beta}-KO mice over several days using radiotelemetry at different housing temperatures (22{degrees}C and 30{degrees}C), and upon T3 administration in comparison to wildtype animals. ResultsTR{beta}-KO mice displayed normal average heart rate at both 22{degrees}C and 30{degrees}C with only minor changes in heart rate frequency distribution, which was confirmed by independent electrocardiogram recordings in freely-moving conscious mice. Parasympathetic nerve activity was, however, impaired in TR{beta}-KO mice at 22{degrees}C, and only partly rescued at 30{degrees}C. As expected, oral treatment with pharmacological doses of T3 at 30{degrees}C led to tachycardia in wildtypes, accompanied by broader heart rate frequency distribution and increased heart weight, while TR{beta}-KO mice showed blunted tachycardia, as well as resistance to changes in heart rate frequency distribution and heart weight. At the molecular level, these observations were paralleled by a blunted cardiac mRNA induction of several important genes, including the pacemaker channels Hcn2 and Hcn4, as well as Kcna7. ConclusionsThe phenotyping of TR{beta}-KO mice conducted at thermoneutrality allows novel insights on the role of TR{beta} in cardiac functions in absence of the usual confounding hyperthyroidism. Even though TR{beta} is expressed at lower levels than TR1 in the heart, our findings demonstrate an important role for this isoform in the cardiac response to thyroid hormones.

Source connections

Published article ↗

Explore related subjects

physiology Preprint

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

Dore, R., Sentis, S. C., Johann, K., Lopez-Alcantara, N., Resch, J., Moeller, L. C., Fuehrer, D., Obermayer-Wasserscheid, B., Opitz, R., Mittag, J.. 2023-11-21. Partial resistance to thyroid hormone-induced tachycardia and cardiac hypertrophy in mice lacking thyroid hormone receptor beta. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.11.21.567193

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

bioRxiv2026

IBD-Derived Colonic Fibroblasts Exhibit an Osteopontin-Enriched Secretome, and Osteopontin Restrains Human Colonic Organoid Maturation

Background: Intestinal fibroblasts are extensively remodeled in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), yet the soluble stromal signals that directly influence epithelial maturation remain incompletely understood. We examined whether fibroblasts derived from inflamed IBD colon display an osteopontin (OPN; SPP1)-enriched secretory phenotype and whether extracellular OPN directly modifies non-neoplastic human colonic epithelium. Methods: Conditioned media from 5 noninflamed-associated fibroblast (NAF) and 4 inflammatory-associated fibroblast (IAF) cultures were analyzed in the validated multi-donor cytokine-array matrix, with orthogonal SPP1 RT-qPCR validation in a complementary fibroblast cohort. Recombinant OPN was then tested in human colonic organoids from 3 donors using donor-resolved molecular and functional analyses under standard, fibroblast-conditioned, and WNT-modified culture conditions. Donor identity defined biological replication. Results: OPN showed the strongest positive rank-based separation between IAF and NAF cultures: all 4 IAF values were higher than all 5 NAF values (Cliff's delta=1.00; exact Mann-Whitney P=0.0159; median ratio=3.64; Benjamini-Hochberg q=.19). Fibroblast RT-qPCR showed approximately 10-fold higher mean SPP1 expression in IAF than NAF cultures (P<.05). In organoids, OPN consistently reduced KRT20, FABP1, CA2, and MUC2 from Day 5 to Day 9. SOX9, HES1, and NOTCH1 increased at Day 9, whereas LGR5 and ALDH provided no evidence of canonical stem-cell expansion. Organoid-area and EdU responses were modest and donor dependent. Conclusions: IBD-derived colonic fibroblasts can display an OPN-enriched secretory phenotype. In human colonic organoids, OPN is sufficient to impair epithelial maturation, whereas its effects on growth and proliferation are variable and depend on the surrounding niche.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2026

A multiscale analysis of liver lobule fibrosis and its impact on drug propagation and metabolism - a DLA approach

Employing DLA methods, this paper explores the self-assembly of collagen fibers and resulting fibrosis at three scales up to the scale of regular lobule models. This allows a mechanistic exploration of the effects of collagen on drug transport (flow and diffusion) and metabolism. In addition, this method permits an analysis of fiber growth characteristics. First, variations of the DLA method of Parkinson et al (1994) will be used to generate multiple explicit collagen microfibril self-assembly using DLA particles in one dimension using cubic grid blocks of (4 mm)3 in a 240 x 20 x 20 grid model. The second stage will be to assess the consequences of various densities of these fibers in three dimensions on flow reductions at a higher scale. Here we utilize DLA methods in cubic grid blocks of (80 nm)3 to mimic 3D collagen self-assembly of fibrils. We then apply a pressure gradient or specified flow rates across a spatially gridded version of these models to quantify flow effects. This region represents a local zone of liver tissue affected by fibrosis. Analytic models of fibrotic effects on flow are employed for comparison. A third stage explores the implications of fibrosis in a liver lobule model using multiple grid blocks of size 3200 mm to represent the lobule tissue. Here, a continuum model of fiber density is employed, based on the previous two scales. The model also includes the effects of additional grid blocks representing sinusoidal flow paths found in the lobule. We contrast and quantify drug propagation and metabolism of molecular dissolved versus nanoparticle delivery vehicles in fibrotic media, achieved by upscaling explicit collagen distributions to appropriate average values.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2026

Pulmonary pressure load shapes right ventricular molecular remodelling in dilated cardiomyopathy

Right ventricular (RV) adaptation to pulmonary hypertension determines outcome in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), but the molecular mechanisms of the transition to decompensation remain unclear. We analysed RV tissue from explanted hearts of patients with end-stage DCM using single-nucleus RNA sequencing (n=21), mass spectrometry and Olink Reveal proteomics (both n=44), and integrated these molecular profiles with echocardiographic and right-heart catheterisation measures to identify molecular correlates of RV dysfunction. Mean pulmonary arterial pressure was the dominant correlate of RV transcriptional remodelling, particularly in cardiomyocytes, where higher pressure was associated with contractile remodelling, autophagy, vesicle trafficking and glucose metabolism. In contrast, RV decompensation was characterised by immune activation and reduced oxidative phosphorylation exclusively at the proteomic level. Integrative multi-omics factor analysis (MOFA) further identified fibrosis as the dominant molecular program shared across transcriptomic and proteomic layers. Together, these findings indicate molecular adaptation to pressure load and tissue fibrosis during progression towards RV failure.

physiology↗