Yap is a Nutrient Sensor Sensitive to the Amino Acid L-Isoleucine and Regulates Expression of Ctgf in Cardiomyocytes

Myocardial infarction and reperfusion is a complex injury consisting of many distinct molecular stress patterns that influence cardiomyocyte survival and adaptation. Cell signalling that is essential to cardiac development also presents potential disease-modifying opportunities to recover and limit myocardial injury or maladaptive remodelling. Here we hypothesized that Yap signalling could be sensitive to one or more molecular stress patterns associated with early acute ischemia. Yap, not Taz, patterns of expression differ in post-myocardial infarct compared to peri-infarct tissue suggesting cell-specificity that would be challenging to resolve for causation in vivo. Using H9c2 ventricular myotubes in vitro as a model, Yap levels were most sensitive to nutrient deprivation compared to other stress patterns typified by ischemia within the first hour of stress. Moreover, this is mediated by amino acid availability, dominantly L-isoleucine, and influences the expression of Ctgf—a major determinant of myocardial adaptation after injury. These findings present novel opportunities for future therapeutic development and risk assessment for myocardial injury and adaptation.