Fig. 5: PTRH2-regulated cardioprotection during pregnancy. | Nature Communications

Fig. 5: PTRH2-regulated cardioprotection during pregnancy.

From: Peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase 2 is a negative regulator of peripartum cardiomyopathy with heart failure in female mice

Fig. 5

The heart undergoes hypertrophy to account for the augmented mechanical load required during pregnancy to compensate for the increased blood flow to the fetus. This places extreme mechanical stresses on the heart. In the healthy heart such pregnancy associated stresses activate cardiomyocyte pro-survival pathways, including PTRH2. Upon the loss of PTRH2 expression, PTRH2-mediated cardio-protective signals are not activated, promoting increased caspase 3 activity and cardiomyocyte apoptosis that leads to PPCM progression to heart failure postpartum. Inhibiting caspase 3 blocks PPCM progression to heart failure. Schematic was created using BioRender (https://biorender.com).

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