Abstract 19380: RhoE is a Novel Factor Regulating NF-κB Signaling in Acute Myocardial Infarction

Introduction: A well balanced and tightly-controlled inflammation plays a crucial role in the prognosis of myocardial infarction (MI) patients. Excessive or insufficient inflammatory response can lead to detrimental clinical consequences. In our previous study, we observed a significant decrease in GTPase RhoE expression in human failing heart. Here we demonstrated RhoE as a new regulator in MI-induced acute inflammatory response in heart and revealed the associated molecular mechanism. Methods and Results: We generated cardiac-specific RhoE-deficient mice. The heterozygous MHC-RhoE+/- mice were viable without obvious abnormalities compared to the wild-type animals under physiological conditions. We performed a permanent ligation of the left anterior descending artery (LAD). The hearts were analyzed three days after the ligation. A significant amount of inflammatory cell infiltration was observed in the infarction areas of the RhoE-deficient mice along with a severely compromised cardiac function compared...