Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

School of Medicine

Department

Exercise Physiology

Committee Chair

John Hollander

Committee Member

Mark Olfert

Committee Member

Emidio Pistilli

Committee Member

Paul Lockman

Committee Member

David Klinke

Committee Member

John Hollander

Abstract

Morbidity and mortality of the diabetic population is influenced by many confounding factors, but cardiovascular disease (CVD), remains the leading cause of death. Mitochondrial dysfunction is central in the development of cardiac contractile dysfunction, with decreased mitochondrial bioenergetic function, increased dependence on free fatty acid utilization, and a decrease in glucose utilization having been shown to contribute to contractile dysfunction. Strategies targeting the amelioration of mitochondrial bioenergetic function are attractive for limiting diabetes-induced heart failure, and preserving health-span. The goals of this dissertation were to assess two mitochondrial-centric approaches for the amelioration of mitochondrial and cardiac contractile dysfunction in diabetes mellitus. Our laboratory previously identified microRNA-378a (miR-378a) as a regulator of mitochondrially encoded ATP synthase membrane subunit 6 (mt-ATP6) mRNA, a component of the ATP synthase F0 complex. More recently, a second class of non-coding RNAs, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA), have been proposed to regulate microRNA activity. LncRNA potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily Q member 1 overlapping transcript 1 (Kcnq1ot1), is predicted to bind miR-378a. Chapter 2 aimed to determine if inhibition of miR-378a could ameliorate cardiac contractile dysfunction in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and to ascertain whether Kcnq1ot1 interacts with miR-378a to impact ATP synthase functionality by preserving mt-ATP6 levels. MiR-378a genomic loss, and inhibition by Kcnq1ot1, improved ATP synthase functionality, and preserved cardiac contractile function. Together, Kcnq1ot1 and miR-378a may act as constituents in an axis that regulates mt-ATP6 content. By acting as therapeutic targets, their manipulation may provide benefit to ATP synthase functionality in the heart during T2DM. A second method of ameliorating mitochondrial dysfunction is mitochondrial transplantation. Current literature suggests that mitochondrial transplantation may be of benefit to the diabetic heart. Chapter 3 aimed to assess mitochondrial transplantation as a prophylactic method of treating mitochondrial dysfunction in the diabetic heart. Following mitochondrial transplantation in vivo using ultrasound-guided echocardiography, mitochondrial signal was detectable in at least 30% of the left ventricle myocardium, primarily within and near injection sites. Poor mitochondrial distribution indicated a need for a more focused injection strategy aimed at targeting a cardiac region or segment of interest. Speckle tracking echocardiography has been utilized to evaluate spatial and progressive alterations in the diabetic heart independently, but the spatial and temporal manifestation of cardiac dysfunction remain elusive. Therefore, the objectives of Chapter 4 were to elucidate if cardiac dysfunction associated with T2DM occurs spatially, and if patterns of regional or segmental dysfunction manifest in a temporal fashion. Non-invasive echocardiography datasets were utilized to segregate mice into two pre-determined groups, wild-type and Db/Db, at 5, 12, 20, and 25 weeks. Machine learning was used to identify and rank cardiac regions, segments, and features by their ability to identify cardiac dysfunction. Overall, the Septal region, and the AntSeptum segment, best represented cardiac dysfunction associated with the diabetic state at 5, 20, and 25 weeks, with the AntSeptum also containing the greatest number of features which differed between diabetic and non-diabetic mice. These results suggested that cardiac dysfunction manifests in a spatial and temporal fashion, and is defined by patterns of regional and segmental dysfunction in the diabetic heart. Further, the Septal region, and AntSeptum segment, may provide a locale of interest for therapeutic interventions aimed at ameliorating cardiac dysfunction in T2DM.

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