Piezo1 Knockdown Activates PI3K/AKT and Enhances SPP1 to Drive M2 Macrophage Polarization and Reduce Cardiac Inflammation

Piezo1 plays a key role in the immune response during sepsis. To date, our understanding of the role of Piezo1 in inflammatory diseases has mostly been limited to influencing vasomotor function and regulating inflammatory infiltration. Whether and how Piezo1 in macrophages is involved in developing septic cardiac dysfunction has never been explored. Here, we have successfully established a mouse model with macrophage-specific knockdown of the Piezo1. The intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) resulted in a significant increase in cardiac macrophage infiltration, as well as an increase in the expression of inflammatory factors and the inflammatory response. However, macrophage-specific knockdown of Piezo1 impaired this response, leading to an increment in macrophage polarization towards the M2 type and the decreased inflammatory response. As a result, myocardial injury caused by sepsis was attenuated. We have also demonstrated that the PI3K/AKT pathway is significantly activated after Piezo1 knockdown, resulting in reduced myocardial dysfunction. Our data indicate that macrophage-specific knockdown of Piezo1 can influence macrophage polarization and thus exert cardioprotective effects in a murine model of sepsis, providing potential ideas and targets for the treatment of infectious cardiac dysfunction.