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Dos Remedios CG, Lal SP, Li A, McNamara J, Keogh A, Macdonald PS, Cooke R, Ehler E, Knöll R, Marston SB, Stelzer J, Granzier H, Bezzina C, van Dijk S, De Man F, Stienen GJM, Odeberg J, Pontén F, Linke WA, Linke W, van der Velden J. The Sydney Heart Bank: improving translational research while eliminating or reducing the use of animal models of human heart disease. Biophys Rev 2017; 9:431-441. [PMID: 28808947 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-017-0305-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2017] [Accepted: 07/31/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The Sydney Heart Bank (SHB) is one of the largest human heart tissue banks in existence. Its mission is to provide high-quality human heart tissue for research into the molecular basis of human heart failure by working collaboratively with experts in this field. We argue that, by comparing tissues from failing human hearts with age-matched non-failing healthy donor hearts, the results will be more relevant than research using animal models, particularly if their physiology is very different from humans. Tissue from heart surgery must generally be used soon after collection or it significantly deteriorates. Freezing is an option but it raises concerns that freezing causes substantial damage at the cellular and molecular level. The SHB contains failing samples from heart transplant patients and others who provided informed consent for the use of their tissue for research. All samples are cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen within 40 min of their removal from the patient, and in less than 5-10 min in the case of coronary arteries and left ventricle samples. To date, the SHB has collected tissue from about 450 failing hearts (>15,000 samples) from patients with a wide range of etiologies as well as increasing numbers of cardiomyectomy samples from patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The Bank also has hearts from over 120 healthy organ donors whose hearts, for a variety of reasons (mainly tissue-type incompatibility with waiting heart transplant recipients), could not be used for transplantation. Donor hearts were collected by the St Vincent's Hospital Heart and Lung transplantation team from local hospitals or within a 4-h jet flight from Sydney. They were flushed with chilled cardioplegic solution and transported to Sydney where they were quickly cryopreserved in small samples. Failing and/or donor samples have been used by more than 60 research teams around the world, and have resulted in more than 100 research papers. The tissues most commonly requested are from donor left ventricles, but right ventricles, atria, interventricular system, and coronary arteries vessels have also been reported. All tissues are stored for long-term use in liquid N or vapor (170-180 °C), and are shipped under nitrogen vapor to avoid degradation of sensitive molecules such as RNAs and giant proteins. We present evidence that the availability of these human heart samples has contributed to a reduction in the use of animal models of human heart failure.
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Affiliation(s)
- C G Dos Remedios
- Sydney Heart Bank, Discipline of Anatomy & Histology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
| | - S P Lal
- Sydney Heart Bank, Discipline of Anatomy & Histology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - A Li
- Sydney Heart Bank, Discipline of Anatomy & Histology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.,Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
| | - J McNamara
- Sydney Heart Bank, Discipline of Anatomy & Histology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - A Keogh
- Heart Transplant Unit, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, Australia
| | - P S Macdonald
- Heart Transplant Unit, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, Australia
| | - R Cooke
- Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California San Francisco, California, USA
| | - E Ehler
- Cardiovascular Division, Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, London, UK
| | - R Knöll
- Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - S B Marston
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - J Stelzer
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - H Granzier
- Molecular Cardiovascular Research Program, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
| | - C Bezzina
- Department of Experimental Cardiology, Heart Failure Research Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - S van Dijk
- Department of Physiology, Institute for Cardiovascular Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - F De Man
- Department of Physiology, Institute for Cardiovascular Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - G J M Stienen
- Department of Physiology, Institute for Cardiovascular Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - J Odeberg
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - F Pontén
- Science for Life Laboratory, KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - W Linke
- Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany
| | - J van der Velden
- Department of Physiology, Institute for Cardiovascular Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Jiang T, Yeung D, Lien CF, Górecki DC. Localized expression of specific P2X receptors in dystrophin-deficient DMD and mdx muscle. Neuromuscul Disord 2005; 15:225-36. [PMID: 15725584 DOI: 10.1016/j.nmd.2004.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2004] [Revised: 10/27/2004] [Accepted: 11/03/2004] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Using a combination of molecular and immunohistochemical methods, we have obtained evidence for a distinctive change in the expression patterns of ATP-gated (P2X) receptor subunits in dystrophic muscle from both Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients and the mdx mouse model. In control myofibres there was no staining for any P2X subtype studied here, although P2X1 stained the smooth muscle of the blood vessels and P2X6 nerves and the tunica intima in small arteries. In contrast, P2X1 and P2X6 were co-expressed strongly in small regenerating muscle fibres in the dystrophic muscles, whereas this expression decreased in fully regenerated fibres. Moreover, immunoreactivity for the P2X2 receptor re-appeared in dystrophic muscle, where it co-localised with the Type 1 fibres. There is, thus, a burst of production of several P2X receptor subtypes in regenerating dystrophic muscle, which may have implications for drug targets for this muscle pathology.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Blotting, Northern/methods
- Blotting, Western/methods
- Dystrophin/deficiency
- Embryo, Mammalian
- Gene Expression Regulation
- Humans
- Immunohistochemistry/methods
- Male
- Methyl Green/metabolism
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Mice, Inbred mdx
- Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism
- Muscular Dystrophy, Animal/genetics
- Muscular Dystrophy, Animal/metabolism
- Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne/genetics
- Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne/metabolism
- RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis
- Rats
- Receptors, Purinergic P2/genetics
- Receptors, Purinergic P2/metabolism
- Receptors, Purinergic P2X2
- Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods
- Sequence Alignment/methods
- Sequence Analysis, Protein/methods
- Succinate Dehydrogenase/metabolism
- Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide/metabolism
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Affiliation(s)
- Taiwen Jiang
- Molecular Medicine Group, Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, St Michael's Building, White Swan Road, Portsmouth PO1 2DT, UK
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Jiang L, Bardini M, Keogh A, dos Remedios CG, Burnstock G. P2X1 receptors are closely associated with connexin 43 in human ventricular myocardium. Int J Cardiol 2005; 98:291-7. [PMID: 15686781 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2003.11.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2003] [Revised: 11/12/2003] [Accepted: 11/17/2003] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND It has been suggested that gap-junctional conductance between cardiomyocytes is regulated through a specific ligand-receptor interaction between ATP and connexins. In this study we examined the localization of P2X1 ionotropic receptors and their relation to connexin43 in gap junctions in human left ventricles. METHODS AND RESULTS Using immunohistochemistry, we detected P2X1 expression predominantly in the intercalated discs. Labelling of the P2X1 receptor and the gap junction protein connexin43 showed close association in some gap junctions, while in others the two proteins often appeared to be spatially discrete. Western blotting detected four major bands at 45, 60, 95 and 120 kDa in the protein extracts from human left ventricles corresponding to equivalent bands from rat vas deferens. The most prominent band in human left ventricles was at 95 kDa, possibly a dimer of the native P2X1 receptor, whereas in rat vas deferens it was at 60 kDa. After preincubation of the antibody with its epitope peptide, the 45 and 60 kDa bands almost disappeared and the 95 and 120 kDa bands were significantly attenuated. CONCLUSIONS P2X1 receptors in human myocardium are densely localized in gap junctions at intercalated discs between muscle cells. Close association of P2X1 receptors and connexin 43 occurred in some regions of some gap junctions, but in others they were spatially separate. Little difference in the pattern of distribution of P2X1 receptors was found in failing left ventricles of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, although Western blots showed an enhancement of P2X1 receptor protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lele Jiang
- Institute for Biomedical Research, Department of Anatomy and Histology, the University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
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