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Molecular and Cellular Biology, January 2009, p. 378-388, Vol. 29, No. 2
0270-7306/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MCB.01661-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Burnham Institute for Medical Research, 10901 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037,1 Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093,2 Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093,3 Research Division, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215,4 Institute for Nutritional Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China,5 Institute for Biomedical Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China6
Received 24 October 2008/ Accepted 27 October 2008
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and AMP-kinase activities in striated muscle. Thus, we have generated a mouse line modeling human patients suffering from cardiomyopathy and insulin resistance. This study reinforces a concept that a compound disease with multiple cardiovascular and metabolic disturbances can be caused by a defect in a single molecule such as Shp2, which modulates multiple signaling pathways initiated by cytokines and hormones. |
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Muscle-specific gene knockout mice have presented unprecedented opportunities to decipher molecular signaling mechanisms underlying cardiomyopathic changes. Deletion of PTEN in cardiomyocytes mediated by Mck-Cre results in cardiac hypertrophy in mice (8). Dilated cardiomyopathy was also observed to various degrees in mice with conditional ablation of ErbB2 (HER2), β1 integrin, and the gp130 cytokine receptor component in the heart or muscle (16, 34, 37). Interestingly, despite the development of cardiomyopathy, most of these mutant mice survive to adulthood with a normal life span, suggesting limitations in their modeling of human patients' pathological processes. These mutant mouse models also show no correlation between cardiomyopathy and insulin resistance. In fact, although muscle-specific PTEN knockout mice develop cardiac hypertrophy (8), they are protected against insulin resistance and diabetes induced by high-fat diet due to enhanced insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in soleus muscle (43).
Shp2 is a widely expressed cytoplasmic tyrosine phosphatase with two SH2 domains that has been implicated in signaling events downstream of receptors for growth factors, cytokines, and hormones (25, 32). In particular, Shp2 has been shown to participate in leptin and insulin signaling for the regulation of energy balance and metabolism (23, 28, 46). In recent experiments, several groups have identified germ line gain and loss-of-function mutations in the human gene PTPN11, encoding Shp2, in Noonan syndrome and LEOPARD (for lentigines, electrocardiogram abnormalities, ocular hypertelorism, pulmonic valvular stenosis, abnormalities of genitalia, retardation of growth, and deafness) syndrome patients, respectively (21, 42). Paradoxically, these mutations either constitutively activate or inactivate the phosphatase activity leading to heart diseases, among other disorders observed in Noonan or LEOPARD syndrome patients. Since the conventional Shp2 knockout mice are embryonic lethal (36), tissue-specific deletion of Shp2 will be required to determine a specific function for Shp2 in the cardiovascular system in vivo.
We report here that striated muscle-specific Shp2 knockout (MSKO) mice develop a severe dilated cardiomyopathy, resulting in heart failure and premature death in mice. More importantly, development of cardiomyopathy is associated with insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and impaired insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in striated muscle cells in this mouse model.
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Immunoblotting, immunoprecipitation, and kinase assay.
Human insulin (5 U; Lilly) or mouse Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF; 6 x 104 U/kg; Esgro) was injected into the inferior vena cavas of 4- to 5-week-old mice. Whole-cell protein extracts were isolated from the heart, muscle, and liver of each animal. Immunoprecipitation and immunoblot studies were performed according to standard protocols. The rabbit polyclonal antibodies against phospho-Akt (Thr308 or Ser473), Akt, phospho-AMP-kinase (phospho-AMPK), AMPK, phospho-Erk5, Erk5 phospho-Erk1/2, Erk1/2, phospho-Jnk1/2, Jnk1/2, phospho-p90RSK, p90rsk, phospho-p70s6k, p70s6k, phospho-protein kinase C (PKC)-
/
, and PKC-
/
were obtained from Cell Signaling. Rabbit polyclonal anti-Shp2 antibody was generated in this laboratory, mouse
-tubulin was obtained from Sigma, and rabbit polyclonal GLUT4 was purchased at Chemicon. The Akt kinase assay was performed as directed by Cell Signaling.
qRT-PCR.
Total RNA was isolated by using the RNA STAT-60 reagent protocol (Tel-Test). Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) experiments were carried out according to a one-step Sybr green qRT-PCR kit protocol (Stratagene) using an MX3000P thermal cycler (Stratagene). The primer sequences used were 5'-TTGGAGCAAATCCTGTGTAC-3' and 5'-CTTCCTCAGTCTGCTCACTC-3' for atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), 5'-AAGAGTCCTTCGGTCTCAAG-3' and 5'-CCAGGAGGTCTTCCTACACC-3' for b-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), 5'-TGCCAACAATGTCCTATCT-3' and 5'-CTGCCTCATCATACTCTTG-3' for skeletal
-actin, 5'-AACCTGGGAACAGAAAACTG-3' and 5'-GGCAAAAGTAGGGAGACAAG-3' for phospholamban (PLN), 5'-AGTCTTAACGGCAGTGTGAG3' and 5'-GTTGCTAACAACGCACATG-3' for sarcoendoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA2a), and 5'-GGTGCTGACGGGAACAAC-3' and 5'-CAGTTTTCAATGCTTTTGTTGG-3' for MEF2C. Each reaction was done in triplicate, and the expression data were normalized against GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase).
Echocardiography analysis. Mice were anesthetized with isofluorane and subjected to echocardiography as previously described (41).
Primary cardiomyocyte culture. For neonatal primary cardiomyocyte cultures, 1-day-old neonatal mice were used. Hearts were removed aseptically and maintained in Dulbecco modified Eagle medium-F-12 medium (DMEM/F12). The cells were dissociated at 37°C by trypsin digestion 0.25% (wt/vol) (Sigma). The digestion mixture was filtered by using a 70-µm-pore-size nylon cell strainer (BD Falcon) and centrifuged for 10 min at 1,000 rpm, and cells were resuspended in DMEM/F12 with 20% fetal bovine serum. To exclude noncardiomyocytic cells, the cell suspension was preplated at 37°C for 1 h on plastic dishes. The remaining cells in the supernatant were then plated on collagen-coated dishes.
Electrophysiology.
Electrophysiological patch clamp recordings were performed using conventional whole-cell configuration from neonatal primary cardiomyocytes, approximately 24 to 48 h after plating. ICa activation was measured by 40-ms test pulses to a series of potentials (–40 mV to +60 mV at 10-mV increments) applied at 10-s intervals from a holding potential of –50 mV. The capacitative currents evoked by the voltage jump were isolated with 2 mM extracellular cobalt (Co2+) and subtracted from the recorded calcium currents. Total cell membrane capacitance was determined by integration of current transients in response to 10-mV test pulses. Calcium current density was used to minimize the effects of cell size on calcium currents. Patch pipettes were pulled to resistances of 2 to 3 M
. The data were analyzed on an IBM-compatible computer interfaced to an Axopatch (200B) amplifier (Axon Instruments) under the control of pCLAMP (version 8.0; Axon Instruments, Fremont, CA). The voltage dependence of calcium current activation was determined by using an interactive nonlinear regression-fitting procedure to the Boltzmann equation. Graphics and statistical data analysis were performed by using Prism (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA).
Physiological assays. Blood glucose levels were assessed on whole venous blood using a One Touch Basic (Lifescan) glucose monitor. Serum insulin levels were measured by using the rat insulin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit (Crystal Chem). Glucose tolerance tests were performed on overnight (13 to 15 h)-fasted mice by intraperitoneal injection of D-glucose (2 g/kg [body weight]; Sigma). Insulin resistance was tested on randomly fed mice after intraperitoneal injection of human insulin (1 U/kg [body weight]; Lilly). The serum-free fatty acids were measured by using the NEFA C test kit (Wako). Serum triglycerides were quantified using the triglyceride reagent set (Pointe Scientific, Inc).
Glucose uptake assays. Neonatal primary cardiomyocytes were used to measure glucose uptake, following published protocols (5, 11). Cells were plated in DMEM/F12 at 105 cells/96 wells. After 48 h, the medium was removed, and cells were washed with Krebs-Ringer phosphate-HEPES (KRPH) buffer and subsequently incubated with KRPH buffer at 37°C for 3 h. Insulin was added at various concentrations in KRPH buffer for 30 min at 37°C. Cells were then incubated with 0.2 µCi of 2-deoxy-D-[U-14C]glucose (Amersham Biosciences) plus 100 µM cold 2-deoxy-D-glucose (Sigma-Aldrich) for 3 h at 37°C. The cells were washed with cold phosphate-buffered saline. For skeletal muscle, soleus muscles strips were used to monitor glucose uptake according to a previously published protocol (44).
Statistical analysis. Statistical analyses were done by using the Student unpaired t test. A P value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. The data are presented as means ± the standard errors of the mean. Survival curves were determined according to the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.
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FIG. 1. MSKO mice exhibit dilated cardiomyopathy. (A) PCR detection of Mck-Cre-mediated recombination event in DNA extracts from different tissues. Upper panel, Shp2flox allele; lower panel, Shp2null allele. M, molecular weight marker; Li, liver; L, lung; H, heart; M, skeletal muscle; S, spleen; K, kidney. (B) Immunoblot analysis of Shp2 protein expression in tissues from Shp2flox/flox (control) and MSKO mice. Shp1 expression was examined in skeletal muscles derived from control and MSKO mice with -tubulin as a loading control (lower panels). (C) Immunofluorescence staining of cardiac left ventricular paraffin sections with antibodies to Shp2 (green) and anti-sarcomeric -actin (red), as well as counterstained with DAPI (4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole) (blue) (magnification, x60). (D) Kaplan-Meier survival curves for control and MSKO mice (n = 30). (E) Body weight comparison between 5- and 9-week-old control mice ( ) and MSKO mice ( ) (n = 20). (F) Comparison of heart weight/body weight ratios between 5- and 9-week-old control and MSKO mice (n = 13). ***, P < 0.001. (G) Gross morphology of a representative heart from 12-week-old control and MSKO mice. (H) Transversal sections from 12 week-old control and MSKO mouse heart stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The right ventricle (RV) and left ventricle (LV) are shown. All experiments were done on male mice.
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Hematoxylin and eosin staining of MSKO hearts revealed enlarged right and left ventricular chambers with thinner walls (Fig. 1H), which are common features of dilated cardiomyopathy. No significant abnormalities in liver, lung, and skeletal muscle could be detected in MSKO mice (data not shown). Masson's trichrome staining of MSKO hearts performed at different ages did not reveal evidence of fibrosis (data not shown). In addition, no significant changes in apoptosis or proliferation were detected in MSKO hearts compared to controls (data not shown). Furthermore, no significant difference in T-lymphocyte (CD4 and CD8) and macrophage (F4/80) marker staining was detected between MSKO and control hearts, suggesting a lack of lymphocyte and macrophage infiltration (data not shown).
To characterize cardiomyopathic changes in MSKO mice, we examined expression profiles of genes typically associated with cardiac stress (7, 17). mRNA levels of the ANF and BNP genes were assessed in 4- to 5-week-old control and mutant hearts. Notably, ANF and BNP expression was significantly elevated in MSKO mice (Fig. 2A and B). In contrast, SERCA2a expression was significantly downregulated in MSKO hearts by 56%, while a modest decrease in PLN expression was also observed in MSKO mice compared to controls (Fig. 2C). Both SERCA2a and PLN are known to be downregulated in heart failure and are involved in Ca2+ homeostasis, which plays a pivotal role in myocyte contractility. To detect alterations in L-type Ca2+ channel activities, we measured calcium currents (ICa) in cardiomyocytes by using the whole-cell patch clamp technique. MSKO cardiomyocytes exhibited significantly smaller ICa density (inward current amplitude normalized to cell capacitance, pA/pF) compared to controls (Fig. 2D). The current-voltage relationship was similar between both groups, suggesting that the channel properties were not altered (Fig. 2D). Conversely, cardiomyocyte capacitance, which is a measure of cell size, was significantly augmented in MSKO cardiomyocytes (Fig. 2E). Specifically, MSKO cells exhibited a twofold increase in capacitance compared to controls (control, 23 ± 4 pF, n = 14; MSKO, 55 ± 7 pF; n = 13) (Fig. 2E), a finding consistent with the altered expression profile of Ca2+ homeostasis genes and cardiac dysfunction observed. The decrease in ICa density in MSKO cardiomyocytes is likely a consequence of the increase in cell size not being accompanied by an increase in the expression of functional calcium channels.
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FIG. 2. Analysis of cardiac gene expression profile and calcium currents in male MSKO mice. (A) qPCR was performed on total RNA extracted from 4- to 5-week-old control ( ) and MSKO ( ) heart tissue. mRNA levels of ANF and BNP normalized against GAPDH are shown (n = 3). (B) Immunofluorescence staining of cardiac left ventricular sections with anti-ANF (green) and anti-sarcomeric -actin (red) and DAPI (blue) (magnification, x60). (C) qPCR analysis of mRNA levels of PLN and SERCA2a (n = 3). (D) L-type Ca2+ channel currents (ICa) measurement in postnatal primary cardiomyocyte derived from control ( ) and MSKO () mice. Voltage-dependent changes in ICa in MSKO (n = 13) and control (n = 14) cells. ICa was normalized to the cell capacitance to yield current densities (pA/pF). (E) Cell capacitance (pF) of control (n = 14) and MSKO (n = 13) cardiomyocytes. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001.
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TABLE 1. In vivo echocardiographic assessment of cardiac size and function in control and MSKO (male) micea
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/β on Ser21/9 residues, a substrate of Akt, was also increased in MSKO hearts compared to controls (Fig. 3B). However, no significant difference in Akt phosphorylation was observed in skeletal muscle of MSKO and control mice (Fig. 3C and D). These results suggest a unique negative role for Shp2 in modulating the PI3K/Akt pathway in cardiomyocytes.
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FIG. 3. Altered Akt activation status in the hearts of MSKO mice. (A) p-Akt (Ser473 and Thr308) and p-p70s6k phosphorylation were measured in 6- to 7-week-old heart lysates. (B) An Akt kinase assay was performed with immunoprecipitated Akt on GSK3 as a substrate, detected using anti-p-GSK3 /β (Ser21/9). (C) Phosphoprotein levels of p-Akt and p-p70s6k were quantitated relative to the control protein amount (n = 3). *, P < 0.05. (D) p-Akt (Ser473) levels from 6- to 7-week-old skeletal muscle. All experiments were done on male animals.
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FIG. 4. Changes in LIF-mediated signaling in cardiomyocytes. (A) LIF (6 x 104 U/kg) was injected into the cava veins of overnight-fasted mice, and heart extracts were immunoblotted with antibodies as indicated. (B) qPCR analysis of MEF2C mRNA levels from 4- to 5-week-old hearts (normalized against GAPDH), with or without LIF stimulation (10 min) (n = 3). **, P < 0.01.
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FIG. 5. Metabolic characterization of MSKO mice. (A) Blood glucose measured on randomly fed (fed) or 16-h-fasted (fast) male (M) and female (F) mice (n = 20 to 25). (B) Serum insulin levels were measured in fed and fasted mice (n = 7 to 10). (C) An insulin tolerance test was performed on 6- to 7-week-old male mice and on 6- to 8-week-old female mice (n = 7). (D) A glucose tolerance test was performed on 7- to 8-week-old 16-h-fasted male mice; n = 7. Serum insulin was measured during the glucose tolerance test. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01.
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TABLE 2. Metabolic changes in MSKO micea
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Glucose uptake is impaired in Shp2-deficient cardiac and skeletal muscle cells. To determine the cellular basis of insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, we assessed the glucose uptake capacity of Shp2-deficient cardiac and skeletal muscle cells. Glucose transport was severely impaired in Shp2-deficient cardiomyocytes, with a >50% decrease in 2-deoxyglucose incorporation after 0.1 and 1 µM insulin stimulation (Fig. 6A). To determine glucose uptake in skeletal muscle, we isolated soleus muscle and performed an ex vivo glucose transport assay. As shown in Fig. 6B, glucose uptake was significantly impaired in MSKO skeletal muscle compared to controls. Therefore, Shp2 tyrosine phosphatase is required for insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in both cardiac and skeletal muscle cells.
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FIG. 6. Glucose uptake in cardiomyocytes and soleus muscle cells. (A) 2-Deoxyglucose uptake in neonatal primary cardiomyocytes. The uptake was determined at baseline and after 30 min of incubation with 0.1 or 1 µM insulin. (B) Soleus muscles were isolated, and glucose uptake was monitored ex vivo at baseline and after 30 min of incubation with 20 nM insulin (n = 3 to 5). *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01.
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) after insulin stimulation. In MSKO mice, PKC-
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activation was modestly decreased, with no dramatic change in Akt phosphorylation compared to controls (Fig. 7D). Muscle glucose transport is also regulated by a mechanism linked to the activation of AMPK. Metformin, a biguanide drug, is known to reduce insulin resistance and increase glucose uptake into peripheral tissues mainly by increasing AMPK activity (14, 47). AMPK activation by metformin was remarkably decreased in MSKO heart and skeletal muscle cells compared to controls (Fig. 7E).
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FIG. 7. Insulin-stimulated signaling events. (A to C) Insulin (5 U) was injected into the cava vein, and extracts of heart (A), muscle (B), or liver (C) were subjected to immunoprecipitation or immunoblotting analysis with antibodies as indicated. (D) Tissue samples were collected as in panel A, and immunoblot analyses were done with the indicated antibodies. (E) Metformin (0.4 g/kg) was injected in the cava vein for 5 min. Extracts of heart and muscle were blotted with antibodies as indicated. (F) Insulin (5 U) was injected into the cava veins of overnight fasted mice. Heart and muscle extracts were blotted with antibodies as indicated. The data shown are representative of at least three independent experiments.
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The development of dilated cardiomyopathy and impairment of cardiac functions in MSKO mice are apparently due to Shp2 deficiency intrinsic to cardiomyocytes, since a recent study showed that mice with deletion of the Shp2 exon 11 in cardiomyocytes mediated by
-myosin heavy chain Cre exhibited a phenotype similar to that induced by Mck-Cre (22). In comparing our results to those of Kontaridis et al. (22), it is interesting that mice with Mck-Cre-mediated exon 4 or exon 11 deletion of Ptpn11/Shp2 showed similar and consistent defects in dilated cardiomyopathy, although with notable differences in severity. The most striking difference is that deletion of exon 4 leads to early mortality in mice, whereas animals with exon 11 ablation have normal life spans. Multiple factors can contribute to this discrepancy, such as genetic background and Cre-mediated DNA recombination efficiency, etc. In addition, the consequence of exon 11 deletion is unclear, and it remains to be clarified whether the removal of exon 11 creates a null allele or a hypomorphic allele producing a C-terminal truncated Shp2 protein.
Associations between cardiomyopathy, insulin resistance, and alterations in glucose uptake have been previously reported in human subjects (35). The molecular basis for this link is unclear, which is largely due to the lack of proper animal models for this complex disease. The most interesting phenotype of MSKO mice is the development of insulin resistance in connection with the cardiac dysfunction phenotype. Both cardiac and skeletal muscle cells in MSKO are defective in insulin-induced glucose uptake. We believe that although Shp2 deficiency can play a direct causative role in dilated cardiomyopathy, the development of insulin resistance may aggravate the progression of heart failure in MSKO mice. In examining metabolic parameters, we found that MSKO mice displayed hyperglyceridemia, an important symptom of metabolic syndromes. This phenotype is very similar to that of muscle-specific insulin receptor knockout (MIRKO) mice, excluding the appearance of dilated cardiomyopathy (3). MIRKO mice exhibit hypertriglyceridemia and impaired glucose uptake in muscle. Although MIRKO mice show a high level of insulin resistance in isolated muscle, it seems insufficient to trigger whole-body insulin resistance (3).
It is well known that Shp2 tyrosine phosphatase acts to modulate the signal strength of multiple pathways, and therefore Shp2 ablation apparently disturbs numerous signaling cascades. In previous experiments, we and others demonstrated that Shp2 physically associates with IRS-1 in insulin-stimulated cells (23). By docking on two phospho-tyrosyl residues (pY1172 and pY1222) at the C-terminal tail (6, 40), Shp2 can dephosphorylate the other phospho-tyrosine sites, such as those for association with the p85 subunit of the PI3K (31). Thus, mutating the two Shp2 docking sites leads to increased tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1 and enhanced IRS-1/p85 binding (31). Consistently, we detected stronger pY-IRS-1 signals and increased IRS-1/p85 binding in Shp2-deficient muscle cells. These biochemical data, which suggest a negative role of Shp2 in modulating insulin signaling through IRS-1, are at odds with the insulin resistance phenotype observed in MSKO mice. The modest level of persistent hyperinsulinemia in MSKO mice could contribute in part to development of insulin resistance despite increased pY-IRS-1 signals. Furthermore, disturbance of other downstream signaling pathways can offset the effect of increased IRS-1 signaling and trigger insulin resistance.
Insulin stimulates plasma translocation of glucose transporters and consequently glucose uptake through multiple signaling pathways, involving Akt and atypical PKC (PKC-
/
) (15, 39). Akt activation appears preserved in MSKO mice after insulin stimulation, while phosphorylation of PKC-
/
is decreased in striated muscles isolated from MSKO mice. A previous report has demonstrated that chronic heart failure patients also have impaired insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, despite a normal level of Akt activity in skeletal muscle (20). A mechanism partially dependent on ATP utilization leading to an increased 5'-AMP level and activation of AMPK has been identified to regulate glucose transporter activity and muscle glucose uptake (13, 30). We demonstrated here that AMPK activation after metformin treatment was impaired in MSKO mice. Therefore, selective deletion of Shp2 in striated muscle affected both insulin- and non-insulin-dependent pathways responsible for glucose uptake. The positive effect of Shp2 in mediating insulin-stimulated metabolic responses is consistent with a previous study showing that transgenic expression of a truncated protein containing the SH2 domains of Shp2 induced insulin resistance in mice (26). This is in contrast to a negative role of its close relative Shp1 in the modulation of insulin signal strength (10).
Shp2 deficiency leads to decreased activation of Erk1/2 and Jnk1/2 kinases by insulin but increased activity of Erk5 after insulin stimulation. Thus, aberrant Erk1/2, Jnk1/2, and Erk5 activities apparently contribute to the metabolically defective phenotype of MSKO mice. However, we wanted to reiterate the point that deletion of Shp2 in striated muscle disturbed multiple signaling pathways directly or indirectly, resulting in the development of complex cardiac and metabolic disorders in this mouse model. Heart failure has been identified as a most common cause of mortality in diabetic patients, and insulin resistance is also a major risk factor in cardiovascular diseases. It is conceivable that the development and progression of a compound disease affecting several organs and tissues could be caused by the accumulation of multiple defects, and indeed experimental and clinical data suggest the involvement of many genes in the etiology of metabolic disorders. Notably, a defect in Ptpn11/Shp2 can also trigger a complex disease, as the gene product acts to regulate multiple pathways. Thus, the MSKO mouse will be a valuable model for the elucidation of molecular links between cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
Published ahead of print on 10 November 2008. ![]()
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