H11 kinase is a novel mediator of myocardial hypertrophy in vivo

By subtractive hybridization, we found a significant increase in H11 kinase transcript in large mammalian models of both ischemia/reperfusion (stunning) and chronic pressure overload with hypertrophy. Because this gene has not been characterized in the heart, the goal of the present study was to determine the function of H11 kinase in cardiac tissue, both in vitro and in vivo. In isolated neonatal rat cardiac myocytes, adenoviral-mediated overexpression of H11 kinase resulted in a 37% increase in protein/DNA ratio, reflecting hypertrophy. A cardiac-specific transgene driven by the alphaMHC-promoter was generated, which resulted in an average 7-fold increase in H11 kinase protein expression. Transgenic hearts were characterized by a 30% increase of the heart weight/body weight ratio, by the reexpression of a fetal gene program, and by concentric hypertrophy with preserved contractile function at echocardiography. This phenotype was accompanied by a dose-dependent activation of Akt/PKB and p70(S6) kinase, whereas the MAP kinase pathway was unaffected. Thus, H11 kinase represents a novel mediator of cardiac cell growth and hypertrophy.