BEX1 is an RNA-dependent mediator of cardiomyopathy

Regulation of mRNA splicing, processing and stability is increasingly recognized as a critical control point in dynamically altering gene expression during stress or disease. Very little is understood of this process in heart failure. Here, we show that BEX1 is a heart failure-induced gene functioning as an mRNA-associated protein that enhances expression of a subset of cardiac disease-promoting genes. Modeling the increase in BEX1 that occurs in disease, cardiac-specific BEX1 transgenic mice show worse cardiac disease with stress stimulation, whereas Bex1 gene-deleted mice are protected from heart failure-promoting insults. Proteomic and interactive screening assays show that BEX1 is part of a large ribonucleoprotein processing complex involved in regulating proinflammatory mRNA expression in the heart. Specifically, induction of BEX1 augments the stability and expression of AU-rich element containing mRNAs typically found within proinflammatory genes. Thus, BEX1 functions as an mRNA-dependent effector that augments pathology-promoting gene expression during heart failure.