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(Circulation Research. 2001;88:1020.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.

Molecular Medicine

Myocardial Akt Activation and Gender

Increased Nuclear Activity in Females Versus Males

Dreama Camper-Kirby, Sara Welch, Angela Walker, Isao Shiraishi, Kenneth D. R. Setchell, Erik Schaefer, Jan Kajstura, Piero Anversa, Mark A. Sussman

From the Divisions of Molecular Cardiovascular Biology (D.C.-K., S.W., A.W., I.S., M.A.S.) and Clinical Mass Spectrometry (K.D.R.S.), The Children’s Hospital Research Foundation, Cincinnati, Ohio; Biosource International (E.S.), Hopkinton, Mass; and Cardiovascular Research Institute (J.K., P.A.), New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY.

Correspondence to Dr Mark A. Sussman, Division of Molecular Cardiovascular Biology, The Children’s Hospital and Research Foundation, Room 3033, 3333 Burnet Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45229. E-mail sussman{at}heart.chmcc.org

	Abstract

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Abstract—Cardiovascular disease risk is higher in men than women, but the basis for this discrepancy remains controversial. Estrogenic stimulation of the myocardium or isolated cardiomyocytes has been purported to exert multiple beneficial effects associated with inhibition of maladaptive responses to pathogenic insults. This report describes a significant difference between the sexes in myocardial activation of Akt, a protein kinase that regulates a broad range of physiological responses including metabolism, gene transcription, and cell survival. We find that young women possess higher levels of nuclear-localized phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ relative to comparably aged men or postmenopausal women. Both localization of phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ in myocardial nuclei of sexually mature female mice versus males and Akt kinase activity in nuclear extracts of hearts from female mice versus males are elevated. Cytosolic localization of phospho-forkhead, a downstream nuclear target of Akt, is also increased in female relative to male mice, suggesting a potential mechanism for cardioprotective nuclear signaling resulting from Akt activation. Phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ levels and localization at cardiac nuclei are similarly increased in transgenic mice with myocardium-specific expression of insulin-like growth factor I, a proven stimulus for Akt activation. Phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ is also localized to the nucleus of cultured cardiomyocytes after exposure to 17ß-estradiol or genistein (a phytoestrogen in soy protein–based diets), and neonatal exposure of litters to genistein elevated nuclear phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ localization. The activation of Akt in a gender-dependent manner may help explain differences observed in cardiovascular disease risk between the sexes and supports the potential beneficial effects of estrogenic stimulation.

Key Words: Akt • gender • survival • phytoestrogen • insulin-like growth factor-1

	Introduction

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The observed gender gap in heart disease has led to considerable speculation regarding the underlying etiology.^{1 2} Compelling evidence from multiple experimental and clinical investigations indicates that estrogen plays a pivotal role in reducing risk for cardiovascular disease.³ Consequently, this evidence has been used for touting estrogen as having a beneficial effect in the recommendation of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to postmenopausal women in order to ameliorate cardiovascular disease risk. Although the rationale for HRT remains controversial,^{4 5} multiple epidemiological studies show that congestive heart failure is more prevalent in men when compared with age-matched women.⁶ The link with estrogen is therefore quite strong, even though the specific molecular signals explaining why women are more protected from heart failure remain unknown.

One molecular mechanism proven to reduce cytopathic damage associated with myocardial injury involves the activation of the serine/threonine protein kinase called Akt (also known as protein kinase B). Akt lies at the intersection of multiple cellular signaling pathways involved in regulation of glucose metabolism, gene transcription, protein synthesis, the cell cycle, and cell survival.⁷ Akt is the downstream effector molecule for signal transduction initiated by membrane receptors such as the insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) that activate phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K).^{8 9 10 11 12} Signaling mediated by IGF-I or PI3-K exerts multiple beneficial effects in cardiac biology.^{13 14 15 16} The potential for therapeutic relevance of this pathway is supported by the observation that activation of Akt inhibits apoptosis in cultured cardiomyocytes and diminishes ischemia-reperfusion injury in vivo.^{17 18} Most importantly, in the context of our present study, PI3-K–mediated Akt activation resulting from estrogen treatment has been recently demonstrated.^{19 20}

Multiple binding partners and intracellular substrates for Akt have been identified. Interestingly, temporal changes in Akt localization occur after activation, with Akt starting out in the cytoplasm, then moving to a membrane proximal position, and ultimately accumulating in the nucleus.^{21 22} Nuclear translocation of activated Akt after phosphorylation is widely accepted, and published reports suggest that biologically relevant targets of the active, phosphorylated form of Akt are likely to be nuclear. One such substrate of Akt is the proapoptotic transcription factor, forkhead, which is found in the nucleus. After phosphorylation by Akt, forkhead translocates from the nucleus to the cytoplasm.^{23 24 25} Data presented in the current study reveal a gender-specific localization of phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ in female versus male humans and mice that also correlated with the predicted phosphorylation and localization of forkhead transcription factor. Nuclear localization of phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ was also increased in vivo and in vitro by the phytoestrogen genistein, which can act as an agonist at estrogen receptors. These findings may help to explain some of the protective cardiovascular effects reported to be associated with being female or consuming phytoestrogen-enriched diets that contain soy products.

	Materials and Methods

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Human Samples
Myocardial samples were obtained at autopsy from 9 adults who had died from causes other than cardiovascular disease. The age of the patients and the number of tissue samples obtained from each is indicated in Table 1. To our knowledge, there was no evidence of prior use of HRT by any of the subjects. Formalin-fixed sections of the left ventricular myocardium were deparaffinized and heated in a microwave oven for 10 minutes in citrate buffer, pH 6.0. After washing in PBS, samples were incubated with phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ antibody diluted 1:40 (12.5 µg/mL) in PBS.

View this table: [in this window] [in a new window]   Table 1. Nuclear Localization of Phospho-Akt473 in Humans by Confocal Microscopy

Animals
FVB/N mice bred and raised in the vivaria facility for use in experiments were maintained on a diet with a low phytoestrogen content (2014 diet; Harlan). Syngeneic transgenic mice expressing IGF-I specifically in the myocardium have been previously described.¹³ Neonatal rat cardiomyocyte cultures were prepared as previously described²⁶ and cultured in serum-free medium for 48 hours before estrogenic stimulation. All experiments were conducted in accordance with the Guide for the Use and Care of Laboratory Animals and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Reagents for Estrogenic Stimulation
17ß-estradiol and the nonsteroidal estrogen genistein (both obtained from Sigma Biochemicals) were used for the in vitro studies at concentrations of 10^-6 mol/L and 250 µg/mL, respectively. Cultures were treated overnight and prepared for microscopic analysis the following morning. For the in vivo experiments, nursing females were injected daily with 1 mg/day IP of genistein beginning 3 days after birth.

Antibodies and Fluorescent Conjugates
Phosphorylation site–specific antibodies to phosphoserine⁴⁷³ on Akt (Biosource International, Camarillo, Calif) and phosphoserine²⁵⁶ on forkhead (Cell Signaling Technologies, Beverly, Mass) were used for both microscopy and immunoblotting experiments. Human myocytes were identified by labeling with mouse monoclonal anticardiac myosin heavy-chain ß antibody (monoclonal antibody 1548, Chemicon, Temecula, Calif) and Cy5-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG (Jackson ImmunoResearch, West Grove, Pa). Nuclei were labeled with propidium iodide (Molecular Probes, Eugene, Oreg) at 10 µg/mL. Mouse myofibrils were labeled with antibody to sarcomeric -actinin (Sigma Immunochemicals, St Louis, Mo). An antibody to histone 4, which was used to normalize sample loading in immunoblots, was the generous gift of Dr Bruce Aronow (Childrens Hospital Research Foundation, Cincinnati, Ohio).

Microscopic Analyses
Sections were prepared from hearts that were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde/PBS overnight at 4°C. The next day, hearts were subjected to a progressive sucrose gradient of 10%, 20%, and then 30% at 4°C, allowing 1 hour at each step to achieve equilibration of the heart with the sucrose solution. Sucrose-infiltrated hearts were prepared for confocal microscopy as previously described.²⁷ Nuclei that could be clearly identified were counted for the analysis of phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ localization. Any staining for nuclei with coincident ambiguous phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ labeling was considered negative.

Biochemical Analyses
Preparation of nuclear and cytosolic extract fractions was performed according to the method of Liew et al²⁸ with some modifications for use with mice. Details of this protocol are available for viewing in the online data supplement at http://www.circresaha.org.

Immunoblots
Samples were assayed using standard techniques as described in the online supplement. Kinase assays were performed using an Akt kinase activity kit (Cell Signaling Technologies) as recommended by the manufacturer.

Statistics
All determinations for significance were performed by Student t test analysis of sample populations using Microsoft Excel. Values of P<0.01 were considered significant.

An expanded Materials and Methods section can be found in an online data supplement available at http://www.circresaha.org.

	Results

Top Abstract Introduction Materials and Methods Results Discussion References

 
Nuclear Accumulation of Phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ Is Higher in Women Versus Men and Decreases in Women After Menopause
Myocardial sections were obtained from young men as well as from premenopausal and postmenopausal women (Table 1). Sections were stained with antibody to phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ and propidium iodide to label nuclei. This analysis clearly identified the presence of anti–phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ antibody staining in the nucleus (Figure 1). Quantification of nuclear phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ labeling revealed a significant (P=0.0002) increase in adult premenopausal women (34.3%±4.5) versus men (5.9%±1.5). In contrast to the tissue samples from younger women, phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ nuclear labeling was low in sections from postmenopausal women (1.9%±1.1). The level of nuclear phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ labeling was not significantly different in tissue samples from postmenopausal women and men (P=0.29). Declining phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ level in older women could be accounted for by diminished estrogenic stimulation, but the possibility of an age-associated reduction in Akt activity independent of estrogen should also be considered.

View larger version (149K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 1. Nuclear phospho-Akt473 localization is increased in women relative to men but decreases after menopause. Shown are examples of labeling in sections from 2 young women (fem 1 and fem 2), 1 man (male), and 1 postmenopausal woman (fem 3). Arrows indicate nuclei staining for phospho-Akt473 (green), together with all nuclei (blue) and antibody to myosin heavy chain ß to show distribution of cardiomyocytes (red). Frequency of nuclear phospho-Akt473 reactivity is increased in sections from young female hearts (see Table 1). Magnification x550 for all sections.

Nuclear Accumulation of Phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ Is Higher in Female Relative to Male Mice
Nuclear extracts were prepared from pooled hearts of young adult mice at 45 days after birth. For this analysis, females were housed separately from males after weaning to prevent alteration of hormonal balance resulting from pregnancy. Immunoblots using anti–phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ antibody show a 1.98±0.53-fold increase in immunoreactivity with female relative to male samples (Figure 2, top left), which was statistically significant (P<0.01, n=8 experiments). Minor variations in the loading of nuclear preparation samples for immunoblot analysis were corrected by standardization relative to histone protein (H4) level. Similarly, assessment of Akt kinase activity in immunoprecipitates from nuclear extracts showed a significantly higher level in females than in males (1.5±0.3-fold, n=5, P=0.01) as measured by substrate phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK; Figure 3). These differences did not result from changes in Akt protein levels, which were comparable between the 2 immunoprecipitated nuclear extracts (Figure 3). Total Akt protein levels in unfractionated heart lysates were also shown to be equivalent regardless of gender (data not shown), indicating that sexual differences in phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ and Akt kinase activity are unrelated to accumulation of protein. These findings were corroborated by confocal microscopy, which showed nuclear phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ localization in myocardial sections of 28.5±5.7% for females compared with only 14.3±2.7% in males (Figure 2, left; Table 2). Statistical analyses comparing the different groups are presented in Table 2. These results demonstrate that young adult female mice possess higher levels of nuclear phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ than comparably aged male mice.

View larger version (92K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 2. Nuclear phospho-Akt473 localization is increased in female mice relative to males and is induced by treatment with IGF-I or genistein. Shown are representative immunoblots (top) and confocal micrographs (bottom) of mouse hearts. The figure is organized by experimental comparison, with individual sets grouped according to gender (left), TIGFO mice (center), and genistein-treated mice (right). Protein loading was normalized to histone protein (H4) level. Bottom, Confocal microscopy of phospho-Akt473 labeling in hearts from 6-week-old (left) and 3-week-old mice (center and right) used for quantification in Table 2. Each set of micrographs was acquired at identical settings for illumination and sensitivity. Nuclei considered negative for Akt immunoreactivity show staining for propidium iodide alone in red (examples indicated by arrowheads), whereas nuclei with coincident Akt label appear green/yellow (examples indicated by arrows). Female mice show a preponderance of nuclear phospho-Akt473 reactivity compared with age-matched males, as do TIGFO mice (center) and genistein-treated litters (right) analyzed at 3 weeks after birth compared with age-matched nontransgenic controls. Bars in photomicrographs are 10, 20, or 40 µm as indicated.

View larger version (18K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 3. Akt activity is increased in nuclear extracts of female vs male mouse hearts. Immunoblot analysis shows relative Akt activity measured by phosphorylation of a GSK substrate and measured by binding of anti–phospho-GSK (p-GSK) antibody. Total Akt was immunoprecipitated from either male or female extracts separately and used for phosphorylation of GSK. Top, Densitometric analysis shows a 1.5-fold increase in phospho-GSK signal in the female vs the male sample. Bottom, Probing the same samples shows the total amount of Akt protein was similar in both samples, indicating a higher level of Akt specific activity in the female sample rather than elevation of Akt protein level.

View this table: [in this window] [in a new window]   Table 2. Nuclear Localization of Phospho-Akt473 in Mice by Confocal Microscopy

Nuclear Accumulation of Phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ in Transgenic Mice That Produce IGF-I in the Myocardium
IGF-I is known to stimulate Akt, so transgenic IGF-I–overexpressing (TIGFO) mice producing IGF under control of a cardiac-specific promoter activated at or shortly after birth were used to assess potential correlation between Akt activation and nuclear localization in vivo. For this analysis, nuclear extracts were prepared from pooled hearts of sexually immature mice at 3 weeks after birth. This age was chosen to avoid differences in Akt stimulation resulting from gender (see Table 2) that would have otherwise complicated the interpretation of IGF-I–mediated effects. Nuclear localization of phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ in juvenile mice was similar in 3-week-old male and female mice (data not shown), confirming our contention that gender differences would not be a confounding variable at this premature age. In comparison, TIGFO mice at 3 weeks of age (Figure 2, center) showed levels of nuclear phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ staining that were significantly higher than in age-matched nontransgenic controls (2.6±1.0-fold increase, P<0.01, n=5 experiments). Nuclear phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ localization in TIGFO mice was also >2-fold above that of normal female adult mice (Table 2), consistent with the enhanced cardioprotective phenotype of TIGFO mice compared with nontransgenic controls.¹³ These results demonstrate that constitutive IGF-I production in TIGFO mice promotes myocardial Akt phosphorylation and nuclear localization in vivo, under conditions in which a gender-independent cardioprotective effect is also observed.

Forkhead Protein Shows Increased Phosphorylation in Female Mice Consistent With Akt Activation
Phospho-forkhead²⁵⁶ protein levels were compared between 6-week-old male versus female samples by immunoblot and confocal microscopy analyses (Figure 4). Phospho-forkhead²⁵⁶ protein level was significantly increased 1.7±0.2-fold (P=0.01; n=4) in the cytosol of female samples relative to age-matched males. Confocal microscopy also shows increased immunoreactivity in female heart sections relative to males, in agreement with the immunoblotting results. In addition, the nonnuclear localization of phospho-forkhead²⁵⁶ immunoreactivity is consistent with previous studies illustrating the translocation of the forkhead protein from the nucleus to the cytosol on phosphorylation.^{23 24 25} Elevated phosphorylation of forkhead protein phosphorylation at serine²⁵⁶, a known target site for Akt, in female hearts relative to males illustrates a potential key gender difference in Akt-associated cardiac signaling.

View larger version (64K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 4. Increased phosphorylation of forkhead protein in male vs female mice. Shown are a representative immunoblot (top) and confocal microscopy (bottom) of phospho-forkhead (p-FKHD) in mouse hearts. Top, Hearts were separated by gender, and 3 hearts for each gender were combined to create the immunoblot samples. Minor variations in loading of cytosolic samples for immunoblot analysis were corrected by normalizing relative to GAPDH. Quantification reveals a 1.7±0.2-fold increase in phospho-forkhead in female relative to male samples. Bottom, Confocal microscopy of phospho-forkhead (green) immunoreactivity in heart sections from 6-week-old mice. Female sample shows higher phospho-forkhead labeling than the age-matched male. Propidium iodide–labeled nuclei are shown in red. Both scans shown for microscopic analysis were acquired at identical settings for illumination and sensitivity. Bar=20 µm for both photomicrographs.

Nuclear Accumulation of Phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ and Cytoplasmic Phospho-Forkhead²⁵⁶ Reactivity Is Induced by Estrogenic Stimulation in Cultured Cardiomyocytes
Cultured cardiomyocytes allow for the use of defined medium and circumvent concerns related to contributory effects of paracrine signaling mechanisms in vivo. Thus, neonatal rat cardiomyocyte cultures were incubated overnight with 17ß-estradiol and then examined for localization of phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ and phospho-forkhead²⁵⁶ the next day. The morphological phenotype of 17ß-estradiol–treated cells was similar to that of untreated controls, with no evidence of remodeling such as hypertrophic enlargement. Confocal microscopy shows that exposure to 17ß-estradiol increased nuclear reactivity for phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ (Figure 5, left), as well as cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for phospho-forkhead²⁵⁶ (Figure 5, right), consistent with the postulate that estrogen can activate Akt in cardiomyocytes.

View larger version (59K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 5. Nuclear phospho-Akt473 and cytosolic phospho-forkhead256 localization is stimulated in cultured cardiomyocytes by administration of 17ß-estradiol or genistein. Cells were treated with either 10-8 mol/L 17ß-estradiol or 250 µmol/L genistein overnight and processed for confocal microscopy the following morning. Cells were labeled with antibodies to phospho-Akt473 (left side; green) or phospho-forkhead256 (right side; green) and -actinin (blue), as well as propidium iodide to stain nuclei (red). Treatment with either estrogenic stimulus results in accumulation of phospho-Akt473 in the nucleus and increased cytoplasmic reactivity for phospho-forkhead256. Nuclear phospho-forkhead256 labeling showed a punctate pattern with variable intensity between individual cells in treated cultures that may reflect differences in the efficiency of the phospho-forkhead256 protein export. Bar=20 µm for all phospho-Akt473 photomicrographs and 10 µm for all phospho-forkhead256 photomicrographs as indicated.

Genistein, a naturally occurring dietary phytoestrogen that is a member of the selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) family, is a partial estrogen agonist both in vitro²⁹ and in vivo.^{30 31} To determine whether this SERM could induce nuclear phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ accumulation in the neonatal cardiomyocyte cultures, cells were incubated overnight with genistein and examined by confocal microscopy the next day. As with 17ß-estradiol–treated cells, the morphology of genistein-treated cultures was similar to that of untreated controls, and there was no evidence of remodeling such as hypertrophic enlargement. Confocal microscopy revealed the accumulation of phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ at the nucleus of cardiomyocytes after exposure to genistein (Figure 5, left), similar to results obtained using 17ß-estradiol. Cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for phospho-forkhead²⁵⁶ was also increased (Figure 5, right), consistent with that previously observed after 17ß-estradiol treatment. Collectively, these results demonstrate that 2 different estrogen agonists can induce nuclear accumulation of phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ and cytosolic immunoreactivity for phospho-forkhead²⁵⁶ in cultured cardiomyocytes.

Genistein Mediates Nuclear Accumulation of Phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ In Vivo
Because genistein stimulates nuclear phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ accumulation in vitro (Figure 5), experiments were performed to determine the effect of genistein administration on phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ distribution in vivo. For this analysis, genistein was administered to lactating females beginning at 3 days after birth and continued for the duration of the experiment. Offspring were allowed to suckle ad libitum as a means for delivering genistein to the young. Nuclear extracts were prepared from pooled hearts obtained from 3-week-old sexually immature suckling mice to avoid differences in Akt activity in older animals resulting from gender (see Table 2). Suckling pups showed significantly increased levels of circulating genistein (6.6-fold over vehicle-treated controls, P=0.0012) as determined by mass spectrometric analysis of serum samples (see online data supplement available at http://www.circresaha.org). Serum levels of 2 other isoflavones, daidzein and its metabolite equol, were also significantly elevated in litters from treated females relative to vehicle-injected controls (6.8- and 108.9-fold, respectively; P<0.0001). Sections of myocardium from genistein-exposed pups showed marked nuclear localization of phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ as determined by confocal microscopy. Anti–phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ nuclear staining levels were 8-fold higher in genistein-treated mice (84.1±4.6%) compared with age-matched untreated juvenile controls (10.2±2.2%; Figure 2, bottom right; Table 2). Immunoblots of the corresponding nuclear extracts showed a less dramatic, although still significantly different (P<0.01, n=5 experiments), 1.34±0.16-fold increase in phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ with genistein-treated mice relative to untreated control samples (Figure 2, top right). These results demonstrate that genistein, alone or in combination with other isoflavone metabolites, induces accumulation of nuclear myocardial phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ in vivo. However, the modest increase in immunoreactivity detected by Western blotting coupled with the high percentage of nuclear labeling as seen by confocal microscopy suggests a lower average level of phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ per labeled nucleus than that observed in mature females or TIGFO mice, which may be consistent with the partial estrogen agonist effects of genistein.

	Discussion

Top Abstract Introduction Materials and Methods Results Discussion References

 
To our knowledge, this study is the first demonstration of nuclear signal transduction in the myocardium that could account for prior observations of gender- and diet-associated differences in myocardial disease risk. Our demonstration of increased nuclear phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ in females versus males indicates that gender influences signal transduction in the myocardium.

A wide variety of factors including IGF-I, ß-adrenergic or G protein–coupled receptor agonists, and stimulation of protease-activated receptors can induce Akt activation in cardiomyocytes. Experiments with cultured vascular endothelial cells^{19 20} or cardiomyocytes (Figure 5) indicate that estrogenic stimulation can also activate Akt. Convergent signaling of these diverse pathways on Akt presumably reflects important cross talk between signal transduction mechanisms, as has been reported for estrogen-mediated stimulation of the IGF-I receptor pathway,³² activation of the IGF-I receptor by estrogen-mediated stimulation of PI3-K,³³ and increased Akt activity in vitro after estradiol or IGF-I treatment of carcinoma cells.³⁴ Akt activation by estrogen could also be the basis for inhibition of apoptosis induced by staurosporine treatment of cultured cardiomyocytes³⁵ (J. Molkentin, personal communication, January 2001), especially given that cardiomyocytes possess functional estrogen receptors.^{36 37} Functional benefits for the heart provided by estrogenic stimulation include cardioprotection from ischemia-reperfusion injury in ovariectomized rats,³⁸ inhibition of pressure overload–induced hypertrophy (L. DeWindt, personal communication, January 2001), and phenotypic rescue of transgenic mouse models of dilated cardiomyopathy (M. Sussman, unpublished results, 2000). Reports of gender-associated differences in murine cardiomyopathic phenotypes^{39 40} could potentially have a mechanistic basis via differences in phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ levels observed in this study.

Within the nucleus, targets for Akt-mediated phosphorylation include members of the forkhead-related transcription factor family,^{23 24 25} cAMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB),⁴¹ nuclear factor-B,^{42 43} and an S6 kinase–related kinase.⁴⁴ Akt exerts opposing inhibitory (forkhead-related) versus stimulatory (nuclear factor-B and CREB) gene transcription, but all of these actions are postulated to promote cell survival. Lethal dilated cardiomyopathy resulting from cardiac-specific expression of dominant-negative CREB in transgenic mice is consistent with this idea.⁴⁵ Increased phospho-forkhead²⁵⁶ levels (Figure 3), which have been linked to antiapoptotic effects in non-cardiac cells,²⁴ could account for decreased apoptosis in the human female failing heart relative to males.⁴⁶

Because immunofluorescence is not quantitative and intensity of nuclear labeling can be variable, in the current study, we routinely used immunoblotting to verify increased amounts of phosphoproteins from mouse myocardium. By immunoblotting, levels of both phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ and phospho-forkhead²⁵⁶ were shown to be elevated in samples from female mice relative to male mice. Variation in the level of cytoplasmic Akt activity, the intensity of Akt activation within individual nuclei, and the percentage of nuclei showing Akt immunoreactivity could all contribute as potential modulators leading to variation in phenotypic consequences of Akt activation.

The effect of estrogenic stimulation of Akt and its potential role in ameliorating cardiovascular disease has a potentially important connection to nutrition. Anecdotal evidence that cardiovascular disease risk may be lowered by estrogenic stimulation can be found in literature related to HRT (reviewed in Reference 3³ ) and to diets that are rich in phytoestrogens.^{47 48 49} Although most studies have been concerned with vascular effects and serum lipid levels,⁵⁰ it is reasonable to postulate that beneficial effects may also extend to the myocardium. These plant-based compounds include the isoflavones genistein and daidzein, which are naturally highly enriched in soybean products.^{51 52} Genistein acts as a partial estrogen agonist and shows selective binding to estrogen receptor ß that is highly localized in the vascular tree.^{30 53 54} Genistein has a half-life of almost 8 hours and attains extremely high concentrations in serum when soy foods are consumed.⁵² We have demonstrated that genistein treatment induces nuclear accumulation of phospho-Akt⁴⁷³ both in cultured cardiomyocytes (Figure 5) and in the myocardium of mice (Figure 2). Therefore, estrogenic effects of a phytoestrogen-enriched diet could significantly influence myocardial signaling, because most commercially available rodent chow is highly enriched in genistein and other isoflavones that could result in daily intakes of up to 2.5 mg of dietary genistein for an adult mouse.⁵⁵ Increased Akt activation has been observed in the myocardium of mice fed chow enriched for phytoestrogens relative to age-matched mice fed a diet with negligible phytoestrogen content (data not shown). Genistein administration is well tolerated, has high bioavailability via oral intake, and inhibits pathogenesis in transgenic mouse models of dilated cardiomyopathy (M. Sussman, unpublished results, 2000), suggesting a potential novel therapeutic approach for treatment of dilation. However, it is important to point out that the integrated consequences resulting from genistein versus estrogen exposure are likely to have distinct differences in the activation of signal transduction pathways. Regardless of the signaling pathway(s) involved, the implications for this observation are profound, as the answer could potentially impact all researchers studying myocardial signal transduction affected by either estrogen or crossover signaling in the myocardium between the estrogen and IGF receptors. Experiments are underway to determine whether the gender- and estrogen-associated differences described in this study are absent from mice lacking functional PI3-K, the functional intermediate in the estrogen pathway leading to Akt activation in endothelial cells.

	Acknowledgments

 
This research was funded by grants to M.A.S. from the National Institutes of Health (Grant HL58224-02) as well as Grant-in-Aid and Established Investigator Awards from the American Heart Association National Organization (Grants 9750638N and 0040051N). We are grateful to Jeffrey Molkentin and Gary Schwartzbauer for helpful discussions.

	Footnotes

 
Original received December 19, 2000; revision received March 30, 2001; accepted March 30, 2001.

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