Epigallocatechin-3 gallate prevents pressure overload-induced heart failure by up-regulating SERCA2a via histone acetylation modification in mice

Heart failure is a common, costly, and potentially fatal condition. The cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase (SERCA2a) plays a critical role in the regulation of cardiac function. Pre- viously, low SERCA2a expression was revealed in mice with heart failure. Epigallocatechin-3- gallate (EGCG) can function as an epigenetic regulator and has been reported to enhance car- diac function. However, the underlying epigenetic regulatory mechanism is still unclear. In this study, we investigated whetherEGCGcan up-regulate SERCA2a via histone acetylation and play role in preventing heart failure. For this, we generated a mouse model of heart failure by performing a minimally invasive transverse aortic constriction (TAC) operation and used this to test the effects of EGCG. TheTAC+EGCG group showed nearly normal cardiac function com- pared to that in theSHAMgroup. The expression of SERCA2a was decreased at both the mRNAand protein levels in theTAC group but was enhanced in theTAC+EGCGgroup. Levels of AcH3 and AcH3K9 were determined to decrease near the promoter region of Atp2a2 (the gene encoding SERCA-2a) in the TAC group, but were elevated in the TAC+EGCG group. Meanwhile, HDAC1 activity and binding near the Atp2a2 promoter were increased in the TAC group but decreased withEGCGaddition. Further, binding levels of GATA4 and Mef2c near the Atp2a2 promoter region were reduced in TAC hearts, which might have been caused by histone hypoacetylation; this was reversed by EGCG. Together, upregulation of SERCA2a via the modification of histone acetylation plays a role in EGCG-mediated prevention of pressure overload-induced heart failure, and this might represent a novel pharmacological target for the treatment of heart failure.