
Heart development and rhythm control are highly Tbx5 dosage-sensitive. TBX5 haploinsufficiency causes congenital conduction disorders, whereas increased expression levels of TBX5 in human heart samples has been associated with atrial fibrillation (AF). We deleted the conserved mouse orthologues of two independent AF-associated genomic regions in the Tbx5 locus, one intronic (RE(int)) and one downstream (RE(down)) of Tbx5 . In both lines, we observed a modest (30%) increase of Tbx5 in the postnatal atria. To gain insight into the effects of slight dosage increase in vivo, we investigated the atrial transcriptional, epigenetic and electrophysiological properties of both lines. Increased atrial Tbx5 expression was associated with induction of genes involved in development, ion transport and conduction, with increased susceptibility to atrial arrhythmias, and increased action potential duration of atrial cardiomyocytes. We identified an AF-associated variant in the human RE(int) that increases its transcriptional activity. Expression of the AF-associated transcription factor Prrx1 was induced in Tbx5 RE(int)KO cardiomyocytes. We found that some of the transcriptional and functional changes in the atria caused by increased Tbx5 expression were normalized when reducing cardiac Prrx1 expression in Tbx5 RE(int)KO mice, indicating an interaction between these two AF genes. We conclude that modest increases in expression of dose-dependent transcription factors, caused by common regulatory variants, significantly impact on the cardiac gene regulatory network and disease susceptibility.
Mouse, QH301-705.5, Science, VARIANT, genetically altered, Mice, Atrial Fibrillation, EPIDEMIOLOGY, Animals, Humans, atrial fibrillation, Gene Regulatory Networks, Myocytes, Cardiac, Heart Atria, Biology (General), COMMON, ALLELIC HETEROGENEITY, GENE-EXPRESSION, Homeodomain Proteins, TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR TBX5, epigenetics, MUTATIONS, Q, R, regulation, Chromosomes and Gene Expression, DUPLICATION, PREDICTS, genetic variation, gene expression, Medicine, transgenic models, T-Box Domain Proteins, arrhythmias, HOLT-ORAM-SYNDROME, Transcription Factors
Mouse, QH301-705.5, Science, VARIANT, genetically altered, Mice, Atrial Fibrillation, EPIDEMIOLOGY, Animals, Humans, atrial fibrillation, Gene Regulatory Networks, Myocytes, Cardiac, Heart Atria, Biology (General), COMMON, ALLELIC HETEROGENEITY, GENE-EXPRESSION, Homeodomain Proteins, TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR TBX5, epigenetics, MUTATIONS, Q, R, regulation, Chromosomes and Gene Expression, DUPLICATION, PREDICTS, genetic variation, gene expression, Medicine, transgenic models, T-Box Domain Proteins, arrhythmias, HOLT-ORAM-SYNDROME, Transcription Factors
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 7 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
