Summary Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPARδ) is a critical regulator of energy metabolism in the heart. Here, we propose a mechanism that integrates two deleterious characteristics of heart failure, hypoxia and a metabolic shift toward glycolysis, involving the microRNA cluster miR-199a∼214 and PPARδ. We demonstrate that under hemodynamic stress, cardiac hypoxia activates DNM3os, a noncoding transcript that harbors the microRNA cluster miR-199a∼214, which shares PPARδ as common target. To address the significance of miR-199a∼214 induction and concomitant PPARδ repression, we performed antagomir-based silencing of both microRNAs and subjected mice to biomechanical stress to induce heart failure. Remarkably, antagomir-treated animals displayed improved cardiac function and restored mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. Taken together, our data suggest a mechanism whereby miR-199a∼214 actively represses cardiac PPARδ expression, facilitating a metabolic shift from predominant reliance on fatty acid utilization in the healthy myocardium toward increased reliance on glucose metabolism at the onset of heart failure.

doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2013.08.009, hdl.handle.net/1765/41412
Cell Metabolism
Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam

El Azzouzi, H., Leptidis, S., Dirkx, E., van den Hoek, J., van Bree, B., Brand, K., … de Windt, L. (2013). The Hypoxia-Inducible MicroRNA Cluster miR-199a∼214 targets myocardial PPARδ and impairs mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. Cell Metabolism, 18(3), 1–14. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2013.08.009