Diminished Reactive Hematopoiesis and Cardiac Inflammation in a Mouse Model of Recurrent Myocardial Infarction

BACKGROUND

Recurrent myocardial infarction (MI) is common in patients with coronary artery disease and is associated with high mortality. Long-term reprogramming of myeloid progenitors occurs in response to inflammatory stimuli and alters the organism's response to secondary inflammatory challenges.

OBJECTIVES

This study examined the effect of recurrent MI on bone marrow response and cardiac inflammation.

METHODS

The investigators developed a surgical mouse model in which 2 subsequent MIs affected different left ventricular regions in the same mouse. Recurrent MI was induced by ligating the left circumflex artery followed by the left anterior descending coronary artery branch. The study characterized the resulting ischemia by whole-heart fluorescent coronary angiography after optical organ clearing and by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

RESULTS

A first MI-induced bone marrow "memory" via a circulating signal, reducing hematopoietic maintenance factor expression in bone marrow macrophages. This dampened the organism's reaction to subsequent events. Despite a similar extent of injury according to troponin levels, recurrent MI caused reduced emergency hematopoiesis and less leukocytosis than a first MI. Consequently, fewer leukocytes migrated to the ischemic myocardium. The hematopoietic response to lipopolysaccharide was also mitigated after a previous MI. The increase of white blood count in 28 patients was lower after recurrent MI compared with their first MI.

CONCLUSIONS

The data suggested that hematopoietic and innate immune responses are shaped by a preceding MI.

In vivo silencing of the transcription factor IRF5 reprograms the macrophage phenotype and improves infarct healing

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to test whether silencing of the transcription factor interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) in cardiac macrophages improves infarct healing and attenuates post-myocardial infarction (MI) remodeling.

BACKGROUND

In healing wounds, the M1 toward M2 macrophage phenotype transition supports resolution of inflammation and tissue repair. Persistence of inflammatory M1 macrophages may derail healing and compromise organ functions. The transcription factor IRF5 up-regulates genes associated with M1 macrophages.

METHODS

Here we used nanoparticle-delivered small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) to silence IRF5 in macrophages residing in MIs and in surgically-induced skin wounds in mice.

RESULTS

Infarct macrophages expressed high levels of IRF5 during the early inflammatory wound-healing stages (day 4 after coronary ligation), whereas expression of the transcription factor decreased during the resolution of inflammation (day 8). Following in vitro screening, we identified an siRNA sequence that, when delivered by nanoparticles to wound macrophages, efficiently suppressed expression of IRF5 in vivo. Reduction of IRF5 expression, a factor that regulates macrophage polarization, reduced expression of inflammatory M1 macrophage markers, supported resolution of inflammation, accelerated cutaneous and infarct healing, and attenuated development of post-MI heart failure after coronary ligation as measured by protease targeted fluorescence molecular tomography-computed tomography imaging and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

This work identified a new therapeutic avenue to augment resolution of inflammation in healing infarcts by macrophage phenotype manipulation. This therapeutic concept may be used to attenuate post-MI remodeling and heart failure.

Single reporter for targeted multimodal in vivo imaging

We have developed a multifaceted, highly specific reporter for multimodal in vivo imaging and applied it for detection of brain tumors. A metabolically biotinylated, membrane-bound form of Gaussia luciferase was synthesized, termed mbGluc-biotin. We engineered glioma cells to express this reporter and showed that brain tumor formation can be temporally imaged by bioluminescence following systemic administration of coelenterazine. Brain tumors expressing this reporter had high sensitivity for detection by magnetic resonance and fluorescence tomographic imaging upon injection of streptavidin conjugated to magnetic nanoparticles or fluorophore, respectively. Moreover, single photon emission computed tomography showed enhanced imaging of these tumors upon injection with streptavidin complexed to (111)In-DTPA-biotin. This work shows for the first time a single small reporter (∼40 kDa) which can be monitored with most available molecular imaging modalities and can be extended for single cell imaging using intravital microscopy, allowing real-time tracking of any cell expressing it in vivo.