Abstract P2022: Tipifarnib Mediated Protection By Reduction Of Circulating Exosomes In Pressure Overloaded Cardiac Hypertrophy

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in response to pathophysiological stress is one of the leading causes of heart failure. A growing body of evidence emphasizes the crucial role of exosomes and their modulated content in aggravating cardiac damage due to their inherent intercellular cross-talk abilities during cardiac remodeling. However, the role of circulating exosomes in HCM for the trafficking of pathogenic factors and remodeling the cardiac microenvironment is yet unclear. We investigated the effect of systemic exosome inhibition during cardiac dysfunction in a transverse aortic constriction (TAC) model of heart failure using a recently identified exosome biogenesis inhibitor, Tipifarnib initially developed as Farnesyl transferase inhibitor. In this study, 10-week-old C57BL6J male mice were randomized into three groups i.e., Sham, TAC and Tipifarnib treated (10 mg/kg) TAC. The untreated TAC mice gradually developed hypertrophy and had reduced cardiac functions with a significant increase in heart weight/body weight ratio, cardiomyocyte size and upregulation of hypertrophy and fibrosis associated genes expression by 8 weeks. On the contrary, Tipifarnib treated TAC mice showed remarkably improved cardiac left ventricular functions, reduced cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. Notably, Nanosight analysis indicated significantly higher serum exosomes concentration in TAC mice which were substantially suppressed with Tipifarnib treatment. The molecular analysis of the heart tissue revealed Tipifarnib treated TAC mice had reduced expression of the proteins involved in exosome biogenesis in comparison to untreated TAC mice. To gain insight into the cargo of these circulating exosomes, we performed the serum cytokine array and serum exosomes miRNA sequencing in untreated and Tipifarnib treated TAC mice. There was a marked reduction in inflammatory cytokines in serum and differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs with Tipifarnib treatment in comparison to the untreated TAC mice. Overall, our studies suggest the promising potential of Tipifarnib that effectively protects against pressure overload-induced cardiac remodeling and dysfunction by suppressing exosome secretion and altering hypertrophic and fibrotic gene expression.

Duke Scholars

Author Walter J. Koch Surgery, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery