Systems Network Genomic Analysis Reveals Cardioprotective Effect of MURC/Cavin‐4 Deletion Against Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury

Background: Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is a critical issue in the development of treatment strategies for ischemic heart disease. MURC (muscle-restricted coiled-coil protein)/Cavin-4 (caveolae-associated protein 4), which is a component of caveolae, is involved in the pathophysiology of dilated cardiomyopathy and cardiac hypertrophy. However, the role of MURC in cardiac I/R injury remains unknown. Methods and Results: The systems network genomic analysis based on PC-corr network inference on microarray data between wild-type and MURC knockout mouse hearts predicted a network of discriminating genes associated with reactive oxygen species. To demonstrate the prediction, we analyzed I/R-injured mouse hearts. MURC deletion decreased infarct size and preserved heart contraction with reactive oxygen species–related molecule EGR1 (early growth response protein 1) and DDIT4 (DNA-damage-inducible transcript 4) suppression in I/R-injured hearts. Because PC-corr network inference integrated with a protein–protein interaction network prediction also showed that MURC is involved in the apoptotic pathway, we confirmed the upregulation of STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3) and BCL2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) and the inactivation of caspase 3 in I/R-injured hearts of MURC knockout mice compared with those of wild-type mice. STAT3 inhibitor canceled the cardioprotective effect of MURC deletion in I/R-injured hearts. In cardiomyocytes exposed to hydrogen peroxide, MURC overexpression promoted apoptosis and MURC knockdown inhibited apoptosis. STAT3 inhibitor canceled the antiapoptotic effect of MURC knockdown in cardiomyocytes. Conclusions: Our findings, obtained by prediction from systems network genomic analysis followed by experimental validation, suggested that MURC modulates cardiac I/R injury through the regulation of reactive oxygen species–induced cell death and STAT3-meditated antiapoptosis. Functional inhibition of MURC may be effective in reducing cardiac I/R injury.