IGF2BP3 promotes adult myocardial regeneration by stabilizing MMP3 mRNA through interaction with m6A modification

Simeng Li; Siman Shen; Hao Xu; Shuyun Cai; Xiaodong Yuan; Changsen Wang; Xiaojun Zhang; Suyun Chen; Jianning Chen; De-Li Shi; Liangqing Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41420-023-01457-3

IGF2BP3 promotes adult myocardial regeneration by stabilizing MMP3 mRNA through interaction with m6A modification

Cell Death Discov. 2023 May 15;9(1):164. doi: 10.1038/s41420-023-01457-3.

Authors

Simeng Li^#^{1

2

3}, Siman Shen^#^{1

2

3}, Hao Xu^{1

2

3}, Shuyun Cai^{1

2

3}, Xiaodong Yuan^{1

2

3}, Changsen Wang^{1

2

3}, Xiaojun Zhang^{1

2

3}, Suyun Chen^{1

2

3}, Jianning Chen^{1

2

3}, De-Li Shi^{4

5}, Liangqing Zhang^{6

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China.
² Zhanjiang Key Laboratory of Organ Function Injury and Protection, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China.
³ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Autophagy and Major Chronic Non-communicable Diseases, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China.
⁴ Zhanjiang Key Laboratory of Organ Function Injury and Protection, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China. de-li.shi@upmc.fr.
⁵ Laboratory of Developmental Biology, CNRS-UMR7622, Institut de Biologie Paris-Seine (IBPS), Sorbonne University, 75005, Paris, France. de-li.shi@upmc.fr.
⁶ Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China. zhangliangqing@gdmu.edu.cn.
⁷ Zhanjiang Key Laboratory of Organ Function Injury and Protection, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China. zhangliangqing@gdmu.edu.cn.
⁸ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Autophagy and Major Chronic Non-communicable Diseases, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China. zhangliangqing@gdmu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Myocardial infarction that causes damage to heart muscle can lead to heart failure. The identification of molecular mechanisms promoting myocardial regeneration represents a promising strategy to improve cardiac function. Here we show that IGF2BP3 plays an important role in regulating adult cardiomyocyte proliferation and regeneration in a mouse model of myocardial infarction. IGF2BP3 expression progressively decreases during postnatal development and becomes undetectable in the adult heart. However, it becomes upregulated after cardiac injury. Both gain- and loss-of-function analyses indicate that IGF2BP3 regulates cardiomyocyte proliferation in vitro and in vivo. In particular, IGF2BP3 promotes cardiac regeneration and improves cardiac function after myocardial infarction. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that IGF2BP3 binds to and stabilizes MMP3 mRNA through interaction with N⁶-methyladenosine modification. The expression of MMP3 protein is also progressively downregulated during postnatal development. Functional analyses indicate that MMP3 acts downstream of IGF2BP3 to regulate cardiomyocyte proliferation. These results suggest that IGF2BP3-mediated post-transcriptional regulation of extracellular matrix and tissue remodeling contributes to cardiomyocyte regeneration. They should help to define therapeutic strategy for ameliorating myocardial infarction by inducing cell proliferation and heart repair.

Abstract

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