Increased levels of O-linked attachment of N-acetylglucosamine (OGlcNAc) on nucleocytoplasmic proteins are implicated in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy and are regulated by O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) expression and its substrate UDP-GlcNAc. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine whether the development of diabetes in the Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rat, a model of Type 2 diabetes, results in defects in cardiomyocyte mechanical function and, if so, whether this is associated with increased levels of O-GlcNAc and increased OGT expression. Six-week-old ZDF rats were hyperinsulinemic but normoglycemic, and there were no differences in cardiomyocyte mechanical function, UDP-GlcNAc, O-GlcNAc, or OGT compared with age-matched lean control rats. Cardiomyocytes isolated from 22-wk-old hyperglycemic ZDF rats exhibited significantly impaired relaxation, compared with both age-matched lean control and 6-wk-old ZDF groups. There was also a significant increase in O-GlcNAc levels in high-molecular-mass proteins in the 22-wk-old ZDF group compared with age-matched lean control and 6-wk-old ZDF groups; this was associated with increased UDPGlcNAc levels but not increased OGT expression. Surprisingly, there was a significant decrease in overall O-GlcNAc levels between 6 and 22 wk of age in lean, ZDF, and Sprague-Dawley rats that was associated with decreased OGT expression. These results support the notion that an increase in O-GlcNAc on specific proteins may contribute to impaired cardiomyocyte function in diabetes. However, this study also indicates that in the heart the level of O-GlcNAc on proteins appears to be differentially regulated by age and diabetes.
hexosamine biosynthesis; protein O-glycosylation; O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferaseIT IS WELL ESTABLISHED that diabetes leads to a markedly increased risk for cardiovascular disease including heart failure (12). Although much of the increased risk can be attributed to an increase in atherosclerosis, there is clear clinical (11) and experimental (2, 5, 28, 32) evidence demonstrating that diabetes leads to changes at the level of the myocardium consistent with the development of a diabetic cardiomyopathy. The mechanisms underlying the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy are not well understood; however, it has been proposed that the adverse effects of hyperglycemia on cardiomyocyte function may be mediated via a number of different pathways including increased flux through the polyol pathway (2); increased advanced glycation end products (2, 26); and protein kinase activity and increased levels of O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) on proteins (2, 7, 14, 24).There is increasing recognition that the O-GlcNAc modification of serine and threonine residues on cytosolic and nuclear proteins is an important regulatory mechanism involved in signal transduction (20,34). Unlike other glycosylation events, this reaction occurs in the cytosol and the nucleus rather than in the Golgi or the endoplasmic reticulum and is regulated by the activities ...