Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: Kir2.1 , Kir3.1

Title: Parasympathetic response in chick myocytes and mouse heart is controlled by SREBP.

Authors: Ho-Jin Park, Serban P Georgescu, Chuang Du, Christopher Madias, Mark J Aronovitz, C Michael Welzig, Bo Wang, Ulrike Begley, Yali Zhang, Robert O Blaustein, Richard D Patten, Richard H Karas, Herbert H Van Tol, Timothy F Osborne, Hitoshi Shimano, Ronglih Liao, Mark S Link, Jonas B Galper

Journal, date & volume: J. Clin. Invest., 2008 Jan , 118, 259-71

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18060044

Abstract
Parasympathetic stimulation of the heart, which provides protection from arrhythmias and sudden death, involves activation of the G protein-coupled inward rectifying K+ channel GIRK1/4 and results in an acetylcholine-sensitive K+ current, I KACh. We describe a unique relationship between lipid homeostasis, the lipid-sensitive transcription factor SREBP-1, regulation of the cardiac parasympathetic response, and the development of ventricular arrhythmia. In embryonic chick atrial myocytes, lipid lowering by culture in lipoprotein-depleted serum increased SREBP-1 levels, GIRK1 expression, and I KACh activation. Regulation of the GIRK1 promoter by SREBP-1 and lipid lowering was dependent on interaction with 2 tandem sterol response elements and an upstream E-box motif. Expression of dominant negative SREBP-1 (DN-SREBP-1) reversed the effect of lipid lowering on I KACh and GIRK1. In SREBP-1 knockout mice, both the response of the heart to parasympathetic stimulation and the expression of GIRK1 were reduced compared with WT. I KACh, attenuated in atrial myocytes from SREBP-1 knockout mice, was stimulated by SREBP-1 expression. Following myocardial infarction, SREBP-1 knockout mice were twice as likely as WT mice to develop ventricular tachycardia in response to programmed ventricular stimulation. These results demonstrate a relationship between lipid metabolism and parasympathetic response that may play a role in arrhythmogenesis.