@article{FreyGassenmaierHofmannetal.2020, author = {Frey, Anna and Gassenmaier, Tobias and Hofmann, Ulrich and Schmitt, Dominik and Fette, Georg and Marx, Almuth and Heterich, Sabine and Boivin-Jahns, Val{\´e}rie and Ertl, Georg and Bley, Thorsten and Frantz, Stefan and Jahns, Roland and St{\"o}rk, Stefan}, title = {Coagulation factor XIII activity predicts left ventricular remodelling after acute myocardial infarction}, series = {ESC Heart Failure}, volume = {7}, journal = {ESC Heart Failure}, number = {5}, doi = {10.1002/ehf2.12774}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-236013}, pages = {2354-2364}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Aims Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is the major cause of chronic heart failure. The activity of blood coagulation factor XIII (FXIIIa) plays an important role in rodents as a healing factor after MI, whereas its role in healing and remodelling processes in humans remains unclear. We prospectively evaluated the relevance of FXIIIa after acute MI as a potential early prognostic marker for adequate healing. Methods and results This monocentric prospective cohort study investigated cardiac remodelling in patients with ST-elevation MI and followed them up for 1 year. Serum FXIIIa was serially assessed during the first 9 days after MI and after 2, 6, and 12 months. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was performed within 4 days after MI (Scan 1), after 7 to 9 days (Scan 2), and after 12 months (Scan 3). The FXIII valine-to-leucine (V34L) single-nucleotide polymorphism rs5985 was genotyped. One hundred forty-six patients were investigated (mean age 58 ± 11 years, 13\% women). Median FXIIIa was 118 \% (quartiles, 102-132\%) and dropped to a trough on the second day after MI: 109\%(98-109\%; P < 0.001). FXIIIa recovered slowly over time, reaching the baseline level after 2 to 6 months and surpassed baseline levels only after 12 months: 124 \% (110-142\%). The development of FXIIIa after MI was independent of the genotype. FXIIIa on Day 2 was strongly and inversely associated with the relative size of MI in Scan 1 (Spearman's ρ = -0.31; P = 0.01) and Scan 3 (ρ = -0.39; P < 0.01) and positively associated with left ventricular ejection fraction: ρ = 0.32 (P < 0.01) and ρ = 0.24 (P = 0.04), respectively. Conclusions FXIII activity after MI is highly dynamic, exhibiting a significant decline in the early healing period, with reconstitution 6 months later. Depressed FXIIIa early after MI predicted a greater size of MI and lower left ventricular ejection fraction after 1 year. The clinical relevance of these findings awaits to be tested in a randomized trial.}, language = {en} } @article{WoelfelSaetteleZechmeisteretal.2020, author = {W{\"o}lfel, Angela and S{\"a}ttele, Mathias and Zechmeister, Christina and Nikolaev, Viacheslov O. and Lohse, Martin J. and Boege, Fritz and Jahns, Roland and Boivin-Jahns, Val{\´e}rie}, title = {Unmasking features of the auto-epitope essential for β\(_1\)-adrenoceptor activation by autoantibodies in chronic heart failure}, series = {ESC Heart Failure}, volume = {7}, journal = {ESC Heart Failure}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1002/ehf2.12747}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-235974}, pages = {1830-1841}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Aims Chronic heart failure (CHF) can be caused by autoantibodies stimulating the heart via binding to first and/or second extracellular loops of cardiac β1-adrenoceptors. Allosteric receptor activation depends on conformational features of the autoantibody binding site. Elucidating these features will pave the way for the development of specific diagnostics and therapeutics. Our aim was (i) to fine-map the conformational epitope within the second extracellular loop of the human β\(_1\)-adrenoceptor (β1ECII) that is targeted by stimulating β\(_1\)-receptor (auto)antibodies and (ii) to generate competitive cyclopeptide inhibitors of allosteric receptor activation, which faithfully conserve the conformational auto-epitope. Methods and results Non-conserved amino acids within the β\(_1\)EC\(_{II}\) loop (compared with the amino acids constituting the ECII loop of the β\(_2\)-adrenoceptor) were one by one replaced with alanine; potential intra-loop disulfide bridges were probed by cysteine-serine exchanges. Effects on antibody binding and allosteric receptor activation were assessed (i) by (auto)antibody neutralization using cyclopeptides mimicking β1ECII ± the above replacements, and (ii) by (auto)antibody stimulation of human β\(_1\)-adrenoceptors bearing corresponding point mutations. With the use of stimulating β\(_1\)-receptor (auto)antibodies raised in mice, rats, or rabbits and isolated from exemplary dilated cardiomyopathy patients, our series of experiments unmasked two features of the β\(_1\)EC\(_{II}\) loop essential for (auto)antibody binding and allosteric receptor activation: (i) the NDPK\(^{211-214}\) motif and (ii) the intra-loop disulfide bond C\(^{209}\)↔C\(^{215}\). Of note, aberrant intra-loop disulfide bond C\(^{209}\)↔C\(^{216}\) almost fully disrupted the functional auto-epitope in cyclopeptides. Conclusions The conformational auto-epitope targeted by cardio-pathogenic β\(_1\)-receptor autoantibodies is faithfully conserved in cyclopeptide homologues of the β\(_1\)EC\(_{II}\) loop bearing the NDPK\(^{211-214}\) motif and the C\(^{209}\)↔C\(^{215}\) bridge while lacking cysteine C216. Such molecules provide promising tools for novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in β\(_1\)-autoantibodypositive CHF.}, language = {en} } @article{TraubGrondeyGassenmaieretal.2022, author = {Traub, Jan and Grondey, Katja and Gassenmaier, Tobias and Schmitt, Dominik and Fette, Georg and Frantz, Stefan and Boivin-Jahns, Val{\´e}rie and Jahns, Roland and St{\"o}rk, Stefan and Stoll, Guido and Reiter, Theresa and Hofmann, Ulrich and Weber, Martin S. and Frey, Anna}, title = {Sustained increase in serum glial fibrillary acidic protein after first ST-elevation myocardial infarction}, series = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences}, volume = {23}, journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences}, number = {18}, issn = {1422-0067}, doi = {10.3390/ijms231810304}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-288261}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Acute ischemic cardiac injury predisposes one to cognitive impairment, dementia, and depression. Pathophysiologically, recent positron emission tomography data suggest astroglial activation after experimental myocardial infarction (MI). We analyzed peripheral surrogate markers of glial (and neuronal) damage serially within 12 months after the first ST-elevation MI (STEMI). Serum levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neurofilament light chain (NfL) were quantified using ultra-sensitive molecular immunoassays. Sufficient biomaterial was available from 45 STEMI patients (aged 28 to 78 years, median 56 years, 11\% female). The median (quartiles) of GFAP was 63.8 (47.0, 89.9) pg/mL and of NfL 10.6 (7.2, 14.8) pg/mL at study entry 0-4 days after STEMI. GFAP after STEMI increased in the first 3 months, with a median change of +7.8 (0.4, 19.4) pg/mL (p = 0.007). It remained elevated without further relevant increases after 6 months (+11.7 (0.6, 23.5) pg/mL; p = 0.015), and 12 months (+10.3 (1.5, 22.7) pg/mL; p = 0.010) compared to the baseline. Larger relative infarction size was associated with a higher increase in GFAP (ρ = 0.41; p = 0.009). In contrast, NfL remained unaltered in the course of one year. Our findings support the idea of central nervous system involvement after MI, with GFAP as a potential peripheral biomarker of chronic glial damage as one pathophysiologic pathway.}, language = {en} }