• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.482-489
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• 2020

G protein-coupled receptor kinase 5 (GRK5) has been considered as a potential target for the treatment of heart failure as it has been reported to be an important regulator of pathological cardiac hypertrophy. To discover novel scaffolds that selectively inhibit GRK5, we have identified a novel small molecule inhibitor of GRK5, KR-39038 [7-((3-((4-((3-aminopropyl)amino)butyl)amino)propyl)amino)-2-(2-chlorophenyl)-6-fluoroquinazolin-4(3H)-one]. KR-39038 exhibited potent inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ value=0.02 µM) against GRK5 and significantly inhibited angiotensin II-induced cellular hypertrophy and HDAC5 phosphorylation in neonatal cardiomyocytes. In the pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy mouse model, the daily oral administration of KR-39038 (30 mg/kg) for 14 days showed a 43% reduction in the left ventricular weight. Besides, KR-39038 treatment (10 and 30 mg/kg/day, p.o.) showed significant preservation of cardiac function and attenuation of myocardial remodeling in a rat model of chronic heart failure following coronary artery ligation. These results suggest that potent GRK5 inhibitor could effectively attenuate both cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction in experimental heart failure, and KR-39038 may be useful as an effective GRK5 inhibitor for pharmaceutical applications.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.299-304
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• 2005

Cardiac hypertrophy contributes an increased risk to major cerebrovascular events. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying cerebrovascular dysfunction during cardiac hypertrophy have not yet been characterized. In the present study, we examined the molecular mechanism of isoproterenol (ISO)-evoked activation of Ras/Raf/MAPK pathways as well as PKA activity in cerebral artery of rabbits, and we also studied whether the activations of these signaling pathways were altered in cerebral artery, during ISO-induced cardiac hypertrophy compared to heart itself. The results show that the mRNA level of c-fos (not c-jun and c-myc) in heart and these genes in cerebral artery were considerably increased during cardiac hypertrophy. These results that the PKA activity and activations of Ras/Raf/ERK cascade as well as c-fos expression in rabbit heart during cardiac hypertrophy were consistent with previous reports. Interestingly, however, we also showed a novel finding that the decreased PKA activity might have differential effects on Ras and Raf expression in cerebral artery during cardiac hypertrophy. In conclusion, there are differences in molecular mechanisms between heart and cerebral artery during cardiac hypertrophy when stimulated with β2 adrenoreceptor (AR), suggesting a possible mechanism underlying cerebrovascular dysfunction during cardiac hypertrophy.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.377-384
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• 2010

The present study examined whether metformin treatment prevents isoporterenol-induced cardiac hypertrophy in mice. Chronic subcutaneous infusion of isoproterenol (15 mg/kg/24 h) for 1 week using an osmotic minipump induced cardiac hypertrophy measured by the heart-to-body weight ratio and left ventricular posterior wall thickness. Cardiac hypertrophy was accompanied with increased interleukin-6 (IL-6), transforming growth factor (TGF)-${\beta}$, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), collagen I and III, and matrix metallopeptidase 2 (MMP-2). Coinfusion of metformin (150 mg/kg/24 h) with isoproterenol partially inhibited cardiac hypertrophy that was followed by reduced IL-6, TGF-${\beta}$, ANP, collagen I and III, and MMP-2. Chronic subcutaneous infusion of metformin did not increase AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity in heart, although acute intraperitoneal injection of metformin (10 mg/kg) increased AMPK activity. Isoproterenol increased nitrotyrosine levels and mRNA expression of antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase and metformin treatment normalized these changes. These results suggest that metformin inhibits cardiac hypertrophy through attenuating oxidative stress.

• Proceedings of the Korean Biophysical Society Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.52-52
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• 2003

Junctate is a newly identified integral ER/SR membrane $Ca^{2+}$ binding protein, which is an alternative splicing form of the same gene generating aspartyl $\square$-hydroxylase and junctin. To elucidate the functional role of junctate in heart, transgenic (TG) mice overexpressing mouse cardiac junctate-1 under the control of mouse $\square$$^{~}$ myosin heavy chain promoter were generated. Overexpression of junctate in mouse heart resulted in cardiac hypertrophy, increased fibrosis, bradycardia, arrhythmias and impaired contractility. Overexpression of junctate also led to down-regulation of SERCA2, calsequestrin, calreticulin and RyR, but to up-regulation of NCX and PMCA. The SR $Ca^{2+}$ content decreased and the L-type $Ca^{2+}$ current density and the action potential durations increased in TG cardiomyocytes, which could be the cause for the bradycardia in TG heart. The present work has provided an important example of pathogenesis leading to cardiac hypertrophy and arrhythmia, which was caused by impaired $Ca^{2+}$ handling by overexpression of junctate in heart.n heart.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.251-264
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• 2022

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) accounts for approximately half of all heart failure (HF) cases. The prevalence of HFpEF is increasing due to an aging population with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity. HFpEF remains a challenging clinical entity due to a lack of effective treatment options. Traditional HF medications have not been shown to reduce mortality of patients with HFpEF, and an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator is not indicated due to normal ejection fraction. Sudden death is the most common mode of death in patients with HFpEF; however, the underlying mechanisms of sudden death are not fully elucidated. Although ventricular arrhythmias are responsible for the majority of sudden deaths in general, their contribution to sudden deaths in HFpEF patients is likely less significant. The mechanisms of ventricular arrhythmias in HFpEF are 1) reduced conduction velocity due to ventricular hypertrophy, 2) delayed repolarization due to potassium current down-regulation, 3) calcium leakage due to altered excitation-contraction coupling, and 4) increased ventricular fibrosis caused by systemic inflammation. Hypertension and subsequent ventricular hypertrophy reduce the conduction velocity in HFpEF hearts via heterogeneous distribution of connexin 43. Delayed repolarization caused by potassium current down-regulation in HFpEF hearts provides a window for early afterdepolarization to trigger ventricular arrhythmias. Altered excitation-contraction coupling in HFpEF can cause calcium to leak and trigger delayed afterdepolarization. Increased systemic inflammation and subsequent ventricular fibrosis provide substrates for re-entry. Further research is warranted to investigate the detailed mechanisms of ventricular arrhythmias in HFpEF.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 1998

${\alpha},\;{\beta}-Adrenergics$, and calcium channels were known to be related to inducing cardiac hypertrophy. Recently, it was reported that the cardiac renin-angiotensin system (RAS) was an important factor in ventricular hypertrophy. The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of ${\alpha},\;{\beta}-adrenergic$, and calcium channel blockers that might be involved in the regulation of cardiac RAS. The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of renin gene in the perfused rat heart. Changes in angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity and cyclic AMP (cAMP) content which were thought to play a role in inducing cardiac hypertrophy were measured in the perfused rat heart. The expression of renin gene was not only increased by isoproterenol with metoprolol-pretreatment but also increased by vasopressin treatment in the presence of calcium channel blocker, nifedipine or verapamil. Either prazosin alone or norepinephrine with prazosin-pretreatment significantly increased the ACE activity. However, isoproterenol with metoprolol-pretreatment significantly decreased the ACE activity. On the other hand, the ACE activity was not changed by vasopressin, nifedipine, or verapamil treatments. The content of cAMP was significantly increased by either isoproterenol or vasopressin treatment. According to these results, renin gene expression was associated with ${\beta}2$ - adrenoceptor and calcium channel. ACE activity was associated with ${\alpha}-\;and{\beta}2$ - adrenoceptor. In conclusion, ${\beta}2$ - adrenoceptor was important in cardiac renin gene expression and ACE activity and ${\alpha},\;{\beta}$ -adrenergic, and calcium channel blockers might be involved in the regulation of cardiac RAS in a complicated way.

• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.214-216
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• 2018

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.14-21
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• 2011

Although left Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is not only an adaptive response of the heart to increased cardiac workload in hypertension, it surelybut also is the most potent risk factor of overt cardiovascular complications such as coronary heart disease, heart failure, arrhythmia and stroke in the hypertensive population. Also it has become generally accepted that subclinical cardiovascular disease begins in childhood and LVH is the most readily assessed marker for that. As LVH can be seen in children and adolescents with even mild blood pressure elevation with the reported prevalence of 10 to 47%, aggressive antihypertensive treatment is critical in preventing the development of hypertensive heart disease in that those cases.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.581-597
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• 2022

Left ventricular (LV) wall thickening, or LV hypertrophy (LVH), is common and occurs in diverse conditions including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), hypertensive heart disease, aortic valve stenosis, lysosomal storage disorders, cardiac amyloidosis, mitochondrial cardiomyopathy, sarcoidosis and athlete's heart. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging provides various tissue contrasts and characteristics that reflect histological changes in the myocardium, such as cellular hypertrophy, cardiomyocyte disarray, interstitial fibrosis, extracellular accumulation of insoluble proteins, intracellular accumulation of fat, and intracellular vacuolar changes. Therefore, CMR imaging may be beneficial in establishing a differential diagnosis of LVH. Although various diseases share LV wall thickening as a common feature, the histologic changes that underscore each disease are distinct. This review focuses on CMR multiparametric myocardial analysis, which may provide clues for the differentiation of thickened myocardium based on the histologic features of HCM and its phenocopies.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.270-275
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• 2016

The Ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) plays roles in protein degradation, cell cycle control, and growth and inflammatory cell signaling. Dysfunction of UPS in cardiac diseases has been seen in many studies. Cholesterol acts as an inducer of cardiac hypertrophy. In this study, the effect of proteasome inhibitors on the cholesterol-induced hypertrophic growth in H9c2 cells is examined in order to observe whether UPS is involved in cardiac hypertrophy. The treatment of proteasome inhibitors MG132 and Bortezomib markedly reduced cellular surface area and mRNA expression of β-MHC in cholesterol-induced cardiac hypertrophy. In addition, activated AKT and ERK were significantly attenuated by MG132 and Bortezomib in cholesterol-induced cardiac hypertrophy. We demonstrated that cholesterol-induced cardiac hypertrophy was suppressed by proteasome inhibitors. Thus, regulatory mechanism of cholesterol-induced cardiac hypertrophy by proteasome inhibitors may provide a new therapeutic strategy to prevent the progression of heart failure.