Supersulfide metabolism participates in regulating cardiomyocyte morphology

Abstract

Cardiac remodeling involves compensatory alterations in heart mass, geometry, and function in response to hemodynamic stress or cardiac injury. Previous studies have attributed myocardial variations to the size of cardiomyocytes. Recently, supersulfide, a sulfur-catenated molecule, has emerged as a crucial regulator of cardiac robustness. Our earlier findings revealed a heightened presence of supersulfide in healthy mouse hearts, which undergoes catabolism to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) following myocardial infarction. Despite these observations, the precise role of supersulfide metabolism in governing cardiac cellular functions remains elusive. In this study, we use cardiomyocytes isolated from ventricular of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs). We found that supersulfide, but not H2S, positively regulates the size of cardiomyocytes. qPCR results elucidated supersulfide anabolism related gene, Solute carrier family 7 member 11 (Slc7A11), may have involved in regulating size of cardiomyocytes. Slc7A11 gene knockdown efficiently induced cardiomyocyte atrophy. These findings suggest that supersulfide plays a key role in regulating cardiac cell remodeling induced by receptor stimulation. The anabolism and catabolism of supersulfide in cardiac cells could provide a new strategy for the treatment of pathological cardiac remodeling.