Expression of coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor in hearts of rats with experimental autoimmune myocarditis

The expression of coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) was dominant in the brains and hearts of mice until the newborn phase. There is no deta iled information concerning the relation between the expression of CAR and development of hearts. It is also uncertain whether CAR is able to be induc ed in adult hearts after cardiac injury. We demonstrated that CAR was abund ant in the hearts of newborn rats but was barely detectable in the hearts o f adult rats. The expression of CAR in rat hearts with experimental autoimm une myocarditis, which was induced by immunization of purified cardiac myos in, was serially investigated. Active myocarditis was observed from day 15 after immunization. By immunohistochemistry, cardiomyocytes were strongly s tained for CAR antibody from days 24 to 42. CAR mRNA was also detected from days LX to 30 by using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. In the next experiment, the induction of CAR on isolated cardiomyocytes was i nvestigated. CAR was barely detectable in cultured cardiomyocytes by Wester n blot analysis after isolation. This molecule gradually appeared along wit h the creation of clusters and beating of cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, the induction of CAR in cultured cardiomyocytes increased after supplement with conditioned medium of rat splenocytes activated by concanavalin A. In conc lusion, rat CAR is expressed strongly in the hearts of newborn rats and is suppressed in those of adult rats. The expression of CAR is enhanced during the active phase of experimental autoimmune myocarditis and is induced by inflammatory mediators, CAR may play a role in cell-to-cell contact and adh esion of cardiomyocytes.