MeCP2 regulation of cardiac fibroblast proliferation and fibrosis by down-regulation of DUSP5

Cardiac fibrosis is a complex pathological process that includes the abnormal proliferation of cardiac fibroblasts and deposition of the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and collagens. Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is a multifunctional nuclear protein, and plays a key role in the fibrotic diseases. However, the potential role of MeCP2 in cardiac fibrosis remains unclear. We report that MeCP2 modulates cardiac fibrosis via down-regulation of dual-specificity phosphatase 5 (DUSP5), a nuclear phosphatase that negatively regulates prohypertrophic signaling by ERK1/2. MeCP2 is a critical participant in the epigenetic silencing of regulatory genes. Here, we found that down-regulation of DUSP5 in cardiac fibrosis is associated with MeCP2 over-expression. Treatment of cardiac fibroblasts with MeCP2-siRNA blocked proliferation. Knockdown of MeCP2 elevated DUSP5 expression in activated cardiac fibroblasts. Moreover, we investigated the effect of DUSP5 on the ERK1/2 activation. Our results demonstrated that MeCP2 modulates DUSP5 mediated activation of ERK1/2 in cardiac fibrosis. Taken together, these results indicated that MeCP2 acts as a key regulator of pathological cardiac fibrosis, promotes cardiac fibroblasts proliferation and fibrosis by down-regulation of DUSP5.