Functional variants of the ATG7 gene promoter in acute myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease including acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is mainly caused by atherosclerosis, an inflammatory and metabolic disease. Autophagy has been demonstrated to play critical roles in lipid metabolism and inflammation. Altered autophagic activity has been reported in AMI patients. However, molecular basis for dysfunctional autophagy in AMI remains unexplained. METHODS: In this study, the promoter of the ATG7 gene, encoding a core protein for autophagy, was genetically and functionally analyzed in large cohorts of AMI patients (n = 355) and ethnic‐matched healthy controls (n = 363). Related molecular mechanisms were also explored. RESULTS: A total of 19 DNA sequence variants (DSVs) including single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were found in the ATG7 gene promoter. Two novel DSVs and five SNPs were only identified in AMI patients group. These DSVs and SNPs, except one SNP, significantly altered the transcriptional activity of the ATG7 gene promoter in both HEK‐293 and H9c2 cells (p < 0.05). Further electrophoretic mobility shift assay revealed that the DSVs and SNPs evidently affected the binding of transcription factors. CONCLUSIONS: ATG7 gene DSVs and SNPs identified in AMI patients may alter the transcriptional activity of the ATG7 gene promoter and change ATG7 level, contributing to the AMI development as a rare risk factor.