A remarkable adaptive paradigm of heart performance and protection emerges in response to marked cardiac-specific overexpression of ADCY8

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    Evaluation Summary:

    The study is overall well-planned and the amount of data presented by the authors is impressive. The work nicely incorporates animal-level physiology (echocardiography data), tests for known canonical markers of hypertrophy, and then delves into an unbiased analysis of the transcriptome and proteome of LV tissue in bulk. The techniques and analyses in the study are adequately executed and within the realm of expertise of the Lakatta laboratory. This study is a necessary and crucial first step to extensively phenotype this mouse line and generate hypotheses for further work.

    (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

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Abstract

Adult (3 month) mice with cardiac-specific overexpression of adenylyl cyclase (AC) type VIII (TG AC8 ) adapt to an increased cAMP-induced cardiac workload (~30% increases in heart rate, ejection fraction and cardiac output) for up to a year without signs of heart failure or excessive mortality. Here, we show classical cardiac hypertrophy markers were absent in TG AC8 , and that total left ventricular (LV) mass was not increased: a reduced LV cavity volume in TG AC8 was encased by thicker LV walls harboring an increased number of small cardiac myocytes, and a network of small interstitial proliferative non-cardiac myocytes compared to wild type (WT) littermates; Protein synthesis, proteosome activity, and autophagy were enhanced in TG AC8 vs WT, and Nrf-2, Hsp90α, and ACC2 protein levels were increased. Despite increased energy demands in vivo LV ATP and phosphocreatine levels in TG AC8 did not differ from WT. Unbiased omics analyses identified more than 2,000 transcripts and proteins, comprising a broad array of biological processes across multiple cellular compartments, which differed by genotype; compared to WT, in TG AC8 there was a shift from fatty acid oxidation to aerobic glycolysis in the context of increased utilization of the pentose phosphate shunt and nucleotide synthesis. Thus, marked overexpression of AC8 engages complex, coordinate adaptation "circuity" that has evolved in mammalian cells to defend against stress that threatens health or life (elements of which have already been shown to be central to cardiac ischemic pre-conditioning and exercise endurance cardiac conditioning) that may be of biological significance to allow for proper healing in disease states such as infarction or failure of the heart.

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  1. Evaluation Summary:

    The study is overall well-planned and the amount of data presented by the authors is impressive. The work nicely incorporates animal-level physiology (echocardiography data), tests for known canonical markers of hypertrophy, and then delves into an unbiased analysis of the transcriptome and proteome of LV tissue in bulk. The techniques and analyses in the study are adequately executed and within the realm of expertise of the Lakatta laboratory. This study is a necessary and crucial first step to extensively phenotype this mouse line and generate hypotheses for further work.

    (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

  2. Reviewer #1 (Public Review):

    Tarasov and colleagues provide data that extensively phenotypes TGAC8 mice, which exhibit a cAMP-mediated increase in cardiac workload prior to developing heart failure. The authors confirm data from prior studies, showing increased cardiac output mediated by changes in heart rate with similar ejection fraction. Interestingly, canonical markers of LV hypertrophy did not differ from wildtype mice at the time period studied. The LV demonstrated proliferation of small cardiomyocytes and a network of interstitial non-cardiac myocytes. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of bulk LV tissue in TGAC8 mice compared to wildtype found pathways involved in immune responses, ROS scavenging, proliferation, and apoptosis to be activated in TGAC8 mice. Similarly, metabolic profiles shifted from fatty acid oxidation to …

  3. Reviewer #2 (Public Review):

    Tarasov et al. present an impressive amount of work in their in-depth assessment of a murine model of chronic stress in a transgenic line with constitutively active AC/cAMP/PKA/Ca2+ signaling that spans cardiac structure, function, cellular architecture, gene and protein expression, mitochondrial function, energetics and more. Exploration of multiple cellular pathways throughout the manuscript and as summarized in Figure 16 help characterize this murine model and serves as a first step in using this model to understanding the effect of chronic stress on the heart. The conclusions of the manuscript are well-supported by the data, and I have the following comments:

    Strengths:

    1. The authors present echocardiographic, histologic, electrocardiographic, neurohormonal quantification, protein synthesis/degradation, …

  4. Reviewer #3 (Public Review):

    Tarasov et al have undertaken a very extensive series of studies in a transgenic mouse model (cardiomyocyte-specific overexpression of adenylyl cyclase type 8) that apparently resists the chronic stress of excessive cAMP signaling for around a year or so without overt heart failure. Based on the extensive analyses, including RNAseq and proteomic screening, the authors have hunted for potential "adaptive" or "protective" pathways. There is a wealth of information in this study and the experiments appear to have been carefully performed from a technical viewpoint. Many interesting pathways are identified and there is plenty of information where additional experiments could be designed.

    General comments
    1. Ultimately, this is a descriptive and hypothesis-generating study rather than providing directly proven …

  5. Author Response

    Reviewer #1 (Public Review):

    Tarasov and colleagues provide data that extensively phenotypes TGAC8 mice, which exhibit a cAMP-mediated increase in cardiac workload prior to developing heart failure. The authors confirm data from prior studies, showing increased cardiac output mediated by changes in heart rate with similar ejection fraction.

    The above is slightly incorrect as stated. Our results section stated that HR and EF were increased in TGAC8, but that stroke volume did not differ by genotype. Thus 30% increase in cardiac output in TGAC8 was attributable to the increased HR.

    The study is overall well-planned and the amount of data presented by the authors is impressive. The work nicely incorporates animal-level physiology (echocardiography data), tests for known canonical markers of hypertrophy, and then delves …