Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41469385›Full record

ArticleCell death discovery2025

Monomethyl fumarate confers cardioprotection after myocardial infarction via HCAR2-dependent activation of PI3K/Akt signaling.

Yifeng Zhang, Yu Gui, Darrell Belke, Xiaopu Wang, Wen Su, Maojun Liu, Binjie Yan, Jiaxing Sun, Xinqun Hu, Xi-Long Zheng

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cell death discovery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Yifeng ZhangDepartments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Physiology & Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Yu GuiDepartments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Physiology & Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Darrell BelkeDepartments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Physiology & Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Xiaopu WangDepartments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Physiology & Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Wen SuDepartments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Physiology & Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Maojun LiuDepartments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Physiology & Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Binjie YanDepartments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Physiology & Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Jiaxing SunDepartments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Physiology & Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Xinqun HuDepartment of Cardiology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China. huxinqun@csu.edu.cn.
Xi-Long ZhengDepartments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Physiology & Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada. xlzheng@ucalgary.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4623-895X

Funding

Gouvernement du Canada | Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Instituts de Recherche en Santé du Canada) PJT-178010Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (Heart and Stroke Foundation) G-22-0032035
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Monomethyl fumarate (MMF), the active metabolite of dimethyl fumarate, an immunomodulatory drug approved for multiple sclerosis and psoriasis, has emerging potential in ischemic heart disease. We investigated whether MMF can attenuate myocardial infarction (MI) injury and delineated the underlying mechanisms, focusing on hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 2 (HCAR2, also known as GPR109A) and PI3K/Akt signaling. In a mouse MI model induced by permanent left anterior descending coronary artery ligation, MMF administration prior to ischemia significantly preserved left ventricular function and reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis compared with untreated MI. Echocardiography and pressure-volume loop analyses demonstrated higher ejection fraction and cardiac output in MMF-treated MI mice, accompanied by attenuation of adverse ventricular remodeling. TUNEL staining and analysis of apoptotic markers showed that MMF decreased myocardial cell death and caspase-3 activation in vivo, while concomitantly upregulating HCAR2 expression and enhancing Akt phosphorylation in ischemic myocardium. In vitro, MMF protected HL-1 cardiomyocytes from CoCl₂-induced hypoxic injury, improving cell viability and reducing apoptosis, as evidenced by fewer TUNEL-positive cells and a lower Bax/Bcl-2 ratio compared with hypoxia alone. Pharmacological inhibition of Gi-coupled signaling with pertussis toxin or siRNA-mediated knockdown of HCAR2 abolished MMF's cytoprotective effects and blunted MMF-induced Akt phosphorylation, and PI3K/Akt pathway inhibition eliminated MMF's anti-apoptotic benefits in vitro. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that MMF markedly reduces ischemic cardiomyocyte injury via an HCAR2-dependent mechanism involving activation of the pro-survival PI3K/Akt pathway, establishing a novel cardioprotective role for MMF and supporting its translational potential as a therapeutic strategy to mitigate acute MI injury.

Identifiers

PMID41469385
PMCPMC12847698

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.