Role of CDCP1 and Cardiac Fibrosis in a Mouse Model of Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM)

Cardiac fibrosis is a common pathological feature of various cardiac diseases that contributes significantly to heart failure progression and poor clinical outcomes. Recent genetic studies have shown that lower expression of CUB domain-containing protein 1 (CDCP1) is linked to myocardial recovery, but its direct role in cardiac pathophysiology remains unkown. In this study, we investigated the functional contribution of CDCP1 to pressure overload-induced cardiac remodeling and fibrosis. CDCP1 deletion attenuated Ang II/PE-induced cardiac dysfunction as demonstrated by reduced left ventricular mass index and improved cardiac function compared to wild-type controls. Histological analysis revealed significantly decreased cardiac fibrosis in CDCP1-KO mice. Transcriptomic profiling revealed that CDCP1 KO attenuates cardiac fibrosis through downregulation of matrix metalloproteases, collagen biosynthesis and limiting the pathological remodeling extracellular matrix. Spatial transcriptomics further revealed region-specific alterations in fibrotic and inflammatory signatures among the subtypes of cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts, suggesting localized CDCP1-dependent effects on cardiac remodeling. Our findings establish CDCP1 as a critical regulator of pressure overload-induced cardiac fibrosis and dysfunction. Our work provides direct evidence supporting CDCP1 inhibition as a potential therapeutic strategy for cardiac fibrosis. Overall design: CDCP1-knockout (KO) mice and wild-type littermates underwent chronic angiotensin II/phenylephrine (Ang II/PE) infusion via osmotic minipumps. Cardiac structure and function were assessed by serial echocardiography, and cardiac fibrosis was assessed by histology. We used bulk RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics to study the underlying molecular mechanisms.