Troglitazone stimulates β-arrestin-dependent cardiomyocyte contractility via the angiotensin II type 1A receptor

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) agonists are commonly used to treat cardiovascular diseases, and are reported to have several effects on cardiovascular function that may be due to PPARγ-independent signaling events. Select angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) interact with and modulate PPARγ activity, thus we hypothesized that a PPARγ agonist may exert physiologic effects via the angiotensin II type 1A receptor (AT1AR). In AT1AR-overexpressing HEK 293 cells, both angiotensin II (Ang II) and the PPARγ agonist troglitazone (Trog) enhanced AT1AR internalization and recruitment of endogenous β-arrestin1/2 (βarr1/2) to the AT1AR. A fluorescence assay to measure diacylglycerol (DAG) accumulation showed that although Ang II induced AT1AR-Gq protein-mediated DAG accumulation, Trog had no impact on DAG generation. Trog-mediated recruitment of βarr1/2 was selective to AT1AR as the response was prevented by an ARB- and Trog-mediated βarr1/2 recruitment to β1-adrenergic receptor (β1AR) was not observed. In isolated mouse cardiomyocytes, Trog increased both % and rate of cell shortening to a similar extent as Ang II, effects which were blocked with an ARB. Additionally, these effects were found to be βarr2-dependent, as cardiomyocytes isolated from βarr2-KO mice showed blunted contractile responses to Trog. These findings show for the first time that the PPARγ agonist Trog acts at the AT1AR to simultaneously block Gq protein activation and induce the recruitment of βarr1/2, which leads to an increase in cardiomyocyte contractility.