Understanding the pharmacology and GPCR-dependent signaling mechanisms of inflammation-resolving molecules in the heart can facilitate future investigation of these molecules as potential targeted therapeutics for heart disease.
Chronic, unresolved inflammation, and immune system activation contribute to the development and progression of human cardiovascular disease. Specialized proresolving mediators (SPMs), primarily the lipoxins and resolvins, demonstrate potent inflammation-resolving effects. SPMs bind to their respective G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to transduce intracellular events and exert proresolving actions. Given the importance of immune cells in the cardiovascular system, the involvement of nonimmune cardiac cell-types in chronic cardiac inflammation, and the inflammation-resolving effects of SPMs, SPM-GPCR interactions may present efficacious new therapeutic targets for heart disease. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms potentially underlying these GPCR-mediated responses. We begin by providing a brief overview of SPM biosynthesis and the GPCRs implicated in SPM signaling. We then discuss literature demonstrating protective effects of SPMs in models of heart disease. We look in detail at the pharmacology of SPM-GPCR interactions, with a primary focus on formyl peptide receptor 2, GPR32, GPR18, and chemerin receptor 1. We then consider SPM-GPCR downstream signaling pathways in various cell models, including heterologous cell systems overexpressing human SPM-GPCR constructs, SPM-GPCR interactions in endogenous immune cells and effects in nonimmune cell types of the heart including cardiomyocytes, cardiac fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and vascular smooth muscle cells. We end by considering knowledge gaps and discussing future directions in SPM-GPCR interaction research. SPM-GPCR signaling networks and actions vary widely in different cell-types and disease contexts, and knowledge of the detailed pharmacology in the heart is quite limited, so extensive additional work on SPM-GPCR signaling is needed to capitalize on the rich therapeutic potential. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Inflammation resolution is a critical process in cardiac healing after injury or disease. Understanding of the pharmacology and G protein-coupled receptor-dependent signaling mechanisms of inflammation-resolving molecules in the heart is limited, heavily dependent on cell type, and sometimes conflicting. The knowledge gained about these signaling mechanisms in more basic cell systems can be used to facilitate future investigation of how these molecules work within the diverse cardiac cellular milieu as potential targeted therapeutics for heart disease.
Sosnowski et al. (Sat,) studied this question.