Perm1 regulates cardiac energetics as a downstream target of the histone methyltransferase Smyd1

PLoS One. 2020 Jun 23;15(6):e0234913. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234913. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

The transcriptional regulatory machinery in mitochondrial bioenergetics is complex and is still not completely understood. We previously demonstrated that the histone methyltransferase Smyd1 regulates mitochondrial energetics. Here, we identified Perm1 (PPARGC-1 and ESRR-induced regulator, muscle specific 1) as a downstream target of Smyd1 through RNA-seq. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay showed that Smyd1 directly interacts with the promoter of Perm1 in the mouse heart, and this interaction was significantly reduced in mouse hearts failing due to pressure overload for 4 weeks, where Perm1 was downregulated (24.4 ± 5.9% of sham, p<0.05). Similarly, the Perm1 protein level was significantly decreased in patients with advanced heart failure (55.2 ± 13.1% of donors, p<0.05). Phenylephrine (PE)-induced hypertrophic stress in cardiomyocytes also led to downregulation of Perm1 (55.7 ± 5.7% of control, p<0.05), and adenovirus-mediated overexpression of Perm1 rescued PE-induced downregulation of estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRα), a key transcriptional regulator of mitochondrial energetics, and its target gene, Ndufv1 (Complex I). Pathway enrichment analysis of cardiomyocytes in which Perm1 was knocked-down by siRNA (siPerm1), revealed that the most downregulated pathway was metabolism. Cell stress tests using the Seahorse XF analyzer showed that basal respiration and ATP production were significantly reduced in siPerm1 cardiomyocytes (40.7% and 23.6% of scrambled-siRNA, respectively, both p<0.05). Luciferase reporter gene assay further revealed that Perm1 dose-dependently increased the promoter activity of the ERRα gene and known target of ERRα, Ndufv1 (Complex I). Overall, our study demonstrates that Perm1 is an essential regulator of cardiac energetics through ERRα, as part of the Smyd1 regulatory network.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Animals
  • DNA Methylation
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Down-Regulation
  • ERRalpha Estrogen-Related Receptor
  • Electron Transport Complex I / genetics
  • Energy Metabolism / genetics
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • Heart Failure / pathology
  • Heart Failure / surgery
  • Heart Transplantation
  • Histones / genetics
  • Humans
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / genetics
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / metabolism*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Middle Aged
  • Mitochondria / drug effects
  • Mitochondria / metabolism
  • Muscle Proteins / genetics
  • Muscle Proteins / metabolism*
  • Myocardium / metabolism*
  • Myocytes, Cardiac / drug effects
  • Myocytes, Cardiac / metabolism
  • Oxidative Phosphorylation
  • Phenylephrine / pharmacology
  • Primary Cell Culture
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic / genetics
  • RNA, Small Interfering / metabolism
  • RNA-Seq
  • Rats
  • Receptors, Estrogen / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism*

Substances

  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Histones
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • Muscle Proteins
  • PERM1 protein, human
  • PERM1 protein, mouse
  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • Receptors, Estrogen
  • Smyd1 protein, mouse
  • Transcription Factors
  • histone H3 trimethyl Lys4
  • Phenylephrine
  • Electron Transport Complex I
  • NDUFV1 protein, mouse