LncRNA Snhg1-driven self-reinforcing regulatory network promoted cardiac regeneration and repair after myocardial infarction.

Rationale: Most current cardiac regeneration approaches result in very limited cell division and little new cardiomyocyte (CM) mass. Positive feedback loops are vital for cell division, but their role in CM regeneration remains unclear. We aimed to determine whether the lncRNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 1 Snhg1 (Snhg1) could form a positive feedback loop with c-Myc to induce cardiac regeneration.

Methods

Quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization experiments were performed to determine the Snhg1 expression patterns in fetal and myocardial infarction (MI) hearts. Gain- and Loss-of-function assays were conducted to explore the effect of Snhg1 on cardiomyocyte (CM) proliferation and cardiac repair following MI. We further constructed CM-specific Snhg1 knockout mice to confirm the proliferative effect exerted by Snhg1 using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. RNA sequencing and RNA pulldown were performed to explore how Snhg1 mediated cardiac regeneration. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays were used to demonstrate the positive feedback loop between Snhg1 and c-Myc.

Results

Snhg1 expression was increased in human and mouse fetal and myocardial infarction (MI) hearts, particularly in CMs. Overexpression of Snhg1 promoted CM proliferation, angiogenesis, and inhibited CM apoptosis after myocardial infarction, which further improved post-MI cardiac function. Antagonism of Snhg1 in early postnatal mice inhibited CM proliferation and impaired cardiac repair after MI. Mechanistically, Snhg1 directly bound to phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and induced PTEN degradation, activating the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) pathway to promote CM proliferation. The c-Myc protein, one of downstream targets of PI3K/AKT signaling, functioned as a transcription factor by binding to the promoter regions of Snhg1. Perturbation of the positive feedback between Snhg1 and c-Myc by mutation of the binding sequence significantly affected Snhg1-induced CM proliferation.

Conclusions

Snhg1 effectively elicited CM proliferation and improved cardiac function post-MI by forming a positive feedback loop with c-Myc to sustain PI3K/Akt signaling activation, and thus may be a promising cardiac regeneration strategy in treating heart failure post-MI.