Asporin, an extracellular matrix protein, is a beneficial regulator of cardiac remodeling.

Chengqun Huang
Ankush Sharma
Reetu Thakur
Deepika Rai
Madhusudhanarao Katiki
Juliana de Freitas Germano
Yang Song
Sakshi Singh
Jon Sin
David Sengstock, Beaumont Health
Allen M Andres
Ramachandran Murali
Robert M Mentzer
Roberta A Gottlieb
Honit Piplani

Abstract

Heart failure is accompanied by adverse cardiac remodeling involving extracellular matrix (ECM). Cardiac ECM acts as a major reservoir for many proteins including growth factors, cytokines, collagens, and proteoglycans. Activated fibroblasts during cardiac injury can alter the composition and activity of these ECM proteins. Through unbiased analysis of a microarray dataset of human heart tissue comparing normal hearts (n=135) to hearts with ischemic cardiomyopathy (n=94), we identified Asporin (ASPN) as the top differentially regulated gene (DEG) in ischemic cardiomyopathy; its gene-ontology terms relate closely to fibrosis and cell death. ASPN is a Class I small leucine repeat protein member implicated in cancer, osteoarthritis, and periodontal ligament mineralization. However, its role in cardiac remodeling is still unknown. Here, we initially confirmed our big dataset analysis through cells, mice, and clinical atrial biopsy samples to demonstrate increased Aspn expression after pressure overload or cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury. We tested the hypothesis that Aspn, being a TGFβ1 inhibitor, can attenuate fibrosis in mouse models of cardiac injury. We found that Aspn is released by cardiac fibroblasts and attenuates TGFβ signaling. Moreover, Aspn