Rho Family Small G Proteins Play Critical Roles in Mechanical Stress-Induced Hypertrophic Responses in Cardiac Myocytes

Mechanical stress induces a variety of hypertrophic responses, such as activation of protein kinases, reprogramming of gene expression, and an increase in protein synthesis. In the present study, to elucidate how mechanical stress induces such events, we examined the role of Rho family small GTP-binding proteins (G proteins) in mechanical stress-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Treatment of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes with the C3 exoenzyme, which abrogates Rho functions, suppressed stretch-induced activation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases (ERKs). Overexpression of the Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor (Rho-GDI), dominant-negative mutants of RhoA (DNRhoA), or DNRac1 significantly inhibited stretch-induced activation of transfected ERK2. Overexpression of constitutively active mutants of RhoA slightly activated ERK2 in cardiac myocytes. Overexpression of C-terminal Src kinase, which inhibits functions of the Src family of tyrosine kinases, or overexpression of DNRas had no effect on stretch-induced activation of transfected ERK2. The promoter activity of skeletal alpha-actin and c-fos genes was increased by stretch, and these increases were completely inhibited by either cotransfection of Rho-GDI or pretreatment with C3 exoenzyme. Mechanical stretch increased phenylalanine incorporation into cardiac myocytes by [almost equal to]1.5-fold compared with control, and this increase was also significantly suppressed by pretreatment with C3 exoenzyme. Overexpression of Rho-GDI or DNRhoA did not affect angiotensin II-induced activation of ERK. ERKs were activated by culture media conditioned by stretch of cardiomyocytes without any treatment, but not of cardiomyocytes with pretreatment by C3 exoenzyme. These results suggest that the Rho family of small G proteins plays critical roles in mechanical stress-induced hypertrophic responses. (Circ Res. 1999;84:458-466.)