Impaired peroxisomal import in Drosophila oenocytes causes cardiac dysfunction by inducing upd3 as a peroxikine

Nat Commun. 2020 Jun 10;11(1):2943. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16781-w.

Abstract

Aging is characterized by a chronic, low-grade inflammation, which is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. It remains poorly understood whether pro-inflammatory factors released from non-cardiac tissues contribute to the non-autonomous regulation of age-related cardiac dysfunction. Here, we report that age-dependent induction of cytokine unpaired 3 (upd3) in Drosophila oenocytes (hepatocyte-like cells) is the primary non-autonomous mechanism for cardiac aging. We show that upd3 is significantly up-regulated in aged oenocytes. Oenocyte-specific knockdown of upd3 is sufficient to block aging-induced cardiac arrhythmia. We further show that the age-dependent induction of upd3 is triggered by impaired peroxisomal import and elevated JNK signaling in aged oenocytes. We term hormonal factors induced by peroxisome dysfunction as peroxikines. Intriguingly, oenocyte-specific overexpression of Pex5, the key peroxisomal import receptor, blocks age-related upd3 induction and alleviates cardiac arrhythmicity. Thus, our studies identify an important role of hepatocyte-specific peroxisomal import in mediating non-autonomous regulation of cardiac aging.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Drosophila / metabolism*
  • Drosophila Proteins / metabolism*
  • Peroxisomes / metabolism*
  • Protein Transport
  • Signal Transduction / physiology

Substances

  • Drosophila Proteins
  • Upd3 protein, Drosophila