Background Suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 (SOCS3) is a key negative-feedback regulator of gp130 receptor that provides crucial signaling for cardiac hypertrophy and survival; however, an in vivo role of SOCS3 regulation on cardiac gp130 signaling remains obscure. Methods and Results We generated cardiac-specific SOCS3 knockout (SOCS3 cKO) mice. These mice showed increased activation of gp130 downstream signaling targets (STAT3, ERK1/2, AKT and p38) from 15 weeks of age and developed cardiac dysfunction from around 25 weeks of age with signs of heart failure. Surprisingly, SOCS3 cKO failing hearts had minimal histological abnormalities with intact myofibril ultrastructure. In addition, Ca2+ transients were significantly increased in SOCS3 cKO failing hearts compared to wild-type (WT) hearts. We also found that Ser23/24 residues of troponin I were hypophosphorylated in SOCS3 cKO hearts before the manifestation of cardiac dysfunction. These data suggested the presence of abnormalities in myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity in SOCS3 cKO mice. In addition to the contractile dysfunction, we found various ventricular arrhythmias in SOCS3 cKO non-failing hearts accompanied by a sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ overload. To determine the contribution of gp130 signaling to the cardiac phenotype that occurs with SOCS3 deficiency, we generated cardiac-specific gp130 and SOCS3 double knockout mice. Double KO mice lived significantly longer and had different histological abnormalities when compared to SOCS3 cKO mice; thus, demonstrating the importance of gp130 signaling in the SOCS3 cKO cardiac phenotype. Conclusions Our results demonstrate an important role of SOCS3 regulation on cardiac gp130 signaling in the pathogenesis of contractile dysfunction and ventricular arrhythmias.

E. coli O157:H7 is a foodborne pathogen that constitutes a global threat to human health. However, the quantification of this pathogen in food and environmental samples may be problematic at the low cell numbers commonly encountered in environmental samples. In this study, we used recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) for the detection of E. coli O157:H7, real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) for quantification, and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) for absolute and accurate quantification of E. coli O157:H7 from spiked and environmental samples. Primer and probe sets were used for the detection of stx1 and stx2 using RPA. Genes encoding for stx1, stx2, eae, and rfbE were used to quantify E. coli O157:H7 in the water samples. Furthermore, duplex ddPCR assays were used to quantify the pathogens in these samples. Duplex assay set 1 used stx1 and rfbE genes, while assay set 2 used stx2 and eae genes. Droplet digital PCR was used for the absolute quantification of E. coli O15:H7 in comparison with qPCR for the spiked and environmental samples. The RPA results were compared to those from qPCR and ddPCR in order to assess the efficiency of the RPA compared with the PCR methods. The assays were further applied to the dairy lagoon effluent (DLE) and the high rate algae pond (HRAP) effluent, which were fed with diluted DLE. The RPA detected was <10 CFU/mL, while ddPCR showed quantification from 1 to 104 CFU/mL with a high reproducibility. In addition, quantification by qPCR was from 103 to 107 CFU/mL of the wastewater samples. Therefore, the RPA assay has potential as a point of care tool for the detection of E. coli O157:H7 from different environmental sources, followed by quantification of the target concentrations.

MAVS is a mitochondrial outer membrane protein that activates innate antiviral signaling by recognizing cytosolic viral RNAs and DNAs. While the discovery of MAVS is the first molecular evidence that links mitochondria to innate immune mechanisms, it is still unclear whether MAVS affects mitochondrial cell death as a member of caspase activation and recruitment domain (CARD)-containing proteins. We found that MAVS interacts with Bax through CARD by Yeast two-hybrid and a series of immunoprecipitation (IP) assay, which led us to hypothesize that MAVS functions not only in the innate antiviral mechanisms but also in the mitochondrial cell death pathway. Methods: 1) We examined molecular interaction between MAVS and Bax under oxidative stress by IP using isolated myocytes with H2O2 stimulation and the heart post ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). 2) We evaluated the effect of MAVS on mitochondrial membrane potential and apoptosis under H2O2 stimulation using isolated myocytes with adenoviral MAVS knockdown. 3) We investigated the impact of MAVS on %myocardial infarction (%MI) post I/R using cardiac-specific MAVS knockout (cKO) and transgenic (cTg) mice which we have originally generated. 4) We examined the effect of MAVS on recombinant Bax (rBax)-mediated cytochrome c release using isolated mitochondria from wild type (WT) and MAVS KO mice. Results: 1) The amount of Bax pulled down with MAVS was significantly increased in isolated myocytes with 0.2 mM H2O2 compared to those without stimulation (mean±SD; 1.808±0.14, n=5, p<0.001) and in the heart post I/R compared to sham (2.2±1.19, n=3, p=0.0081). 2) Myocytes with MAVS knockdown showed clear abnormalities in mitochondrial membrane potential and caspace-3 cleavage with 0.2 mM H2O2 compared to control cardiomyocytes. 3) MAVS cKO had significantly larger %MI than WT (81.9 ± 5.8% vs. 42.6 ± 13.6%, n=8, p=0.0008). In contrast, MAVS cTg had significantly smaller %MI that WT (30.0 ± 4.8% vs. 49.2 ± 4.8%, n=10, p=0.0113). 4) Mitochondria from MAVS KO exhibited cytochrome c release after incubation with 2.5 μ g of rBax while those from WT required 10 μ g of rBax. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that MAVS protects cardiomyocyte under oxidative stress by interfering with Bax-mediated cytochrome c release from mitochondria.