AUTHOR=Jin Yue , Shen Yan , Su Xuan , Cai Jingwen , Liu Yutao , Weintraub Neal L. , Tang Yaoliang TITLE=The Small GTPases Rab27b Regulates Mitochondrial Fatty Acid Oxidative Metabolism of Cardiac Mesenchymal Stem Cells JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2020.00209 DOI=10.3389/fcell.2020.00209 ISSN=2296-634X ABSTRACT=

Cardiac mesenchymal stem cells (C-MSCs) are endogenous cardiac stromal cells that play a crucial role in maintaining normal cardiac function. Rab27b is a member of the small GTPase Rab family that controls membrane trafficking and the secretion of exosomes. However, its role in regulating energy metabolism in C-MSC is unclear. In this study, we analyzed mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation by quantifying cellular oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and quantified the extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) in C-MSC with/without Rab27b knockdown. Knockdown of Rab27b increased glycolysis, but significantly reduced mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) with loss of mitochondrial membrane potential in C-MSC. Furthermore, knockdown of Rab27b reduced H3k4me3 expression in C-MSC and selectively decreased the expression of the essential genes involved in β-oxidation, tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), and electron transport chain (ETC). Taken together, our findings highlight a novel role for Rab27b in maintaining fatty acid oxidation in C-MSCs.