Chemogenetics is an approach that allows researchers to activate or inactivate a recombinant protein in cells or tissues simply by providing or withdrawing the specific molecules that bind to the protein. The BWH researchers developed an in vivo method using this approach that allowed them to generate and measure a reactive oxygen species - hydrogen peroxide - specifically in the heart, and then monitor the onset of cardiac dysfunction. Michel's team is using this approach to create a more tractable preclinical model of heart failure to help increase the speed and scope of drug development and testing.
To examine oxidative stress on the heart, the research team took advantage of a D-amino acid oxidase (DAAO) - an enzyme that was cloned from yeast. DAAO is known to generate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) only in the presence of D-amino acids, leading to oxidative stress. But mammalian cells use L-amino acids, not D-amino acids: a subtle but important difference that allows the introduced yeast enzyme to remain quiescent until it's provided with its D-amino acid substrate. The team used a virus to deliver DAAO to the hearts of rats, and then the animals were provided with drinking water containing a D-amino acid in order to activate the DAAO. After 4-5 weeks, the team examined hearts using echocardiography to measure cardiac function and heart size. Additionally, the researchers measured markers of inflammatory and adaptive stress.
Compared to animals that received a control virus, the rats expressing DAAO showed signs of advanced heart failure, including increased heart size and decreased contractile function, which were specifically caused by oxidative stress in the heart.
With funding from the Brigham and Women's Hospital Health and Technology Innovation Award, Michel's lab is also developing a transgenic mouse - an animal model whose genome has been altered to encode DAAO, allowing researchers to skip the viral vector and more easily study oxidative stress.
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Funding for this work was supported by NIH grants PO1-HL48743 and RO1-HL46457 (to TM); T32-GM007753 (to BS); American Diabetes Association grant 9-17-CMF-012 (to AS) NIH T32-HL007604 (to SB); Brigham and Women's Hospital Health and Technology Innovation Award (to TM); and Russian Science Foundation grant 17-14-01086 and DFG IRTG 1816 (to VB).