Ubiquitin-Specific Protease 10 Suppresses Cardiac Hypertrophy by Inhibiting Sirt6

Background and Purpose: Cardiac hypertrophy (CH) is a physiological response that compensates for blood pressure overload. Under pathological conditions, hypertrophy can evolve to heart failure as a consequence of the disorganized growth of cardiomyocytes and cardiac tissue. Ubiquitin-specific protease 10 (USP10) is a member of the ubiquitin-specific protease family of cysteine proteases, which are involved in viral infection, oxidative stress, lipid drop formation and heat shock. However, the role of USP10 in CH remains largely unclear. Here, we investigated the roles of USP10 in CH. Experimental Approach: In this study, by utilizing conditional cardiac-specific USP10 knockout (USP10-CKO) mice and USP10- transgenic(USP10-TG) mice, we examined the role of USP10 in hypertrophic hearts. We further examined the specific function of USP10 in cardiomyocytes. Key Results: We show that USP10 expression increased in murine hypertrophic hearts. Mice deficient in USP10 in the heart exhibited an aggravated aortic banding (AB)-induced CH phenotype. However, overexpression of USP10 protected against pressure overload-induced hypertrophy. At the molecular level, the prevention of CH in the absence of USP10 involves elevated Akt pathway components, which are key elements that regulate cell apoptosis and proliferation. Moreover, USP10 physically binds to Sirt6 and inhibits Akt phosphorylation. Conclusion and Implications: These observations demonstrate that USP10 functions as a positive switch in CH. Funding Statement: This work was supported by grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (81770048;81970242); Cooperative Project of Academy training Foundation of Zhengzhou University(2016-BSTDJJ-13). Declaration of Interests: The authors stated: "None." Ethics Approval Statement: All animal use protocols were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. The related procedures were conducted in accordance with the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.