Heart failure (HF) is a major health and economic burden in developed countries. It has been proposed that the pathogenesis of HF may involve the action of mitochondria. Here we evaluate three different models of HF: tachycardiomyopathy, HF with preserved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, and LV myocardial ischemia and hypertrophy. Regardless of whether LVEF is preserved or reduced, our results indicate that the three models share common molecular features: an increase in mitochondrial ROS, followed by ultrastructural alterations in the mitochondrial cristae and loss of mitochondrial integrity that lead to cardiomyocyte death. We show that the ablation of the mitochondrial protease OMA1 averts cardiomyocyte death in all three experimental HF models, and thus, plays a direct role in cardiomyocyte protection. This finding identifies OMA1 as a potential target for preventing the progression of myocardial damage in HF associated to a variety of etiologies. SOURCE: Carlos Torroja (ctorroja@cnic.es) -  Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC)

Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE96057: Ablation of the stress protease OMA1 protects against heart failure