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PARP6-dependent vimentin ADP-ribosylation prevents myofibroblast activation in cardiac fibrosis

Sundaresan, S.; Taneja, A.; Kubon, D.; Bhuyar, A.; Keodora, A.; Pedrioli, D. M. L.; Prabhashankar, A. B.; Rao, P. S. M.; Sundaresan, N. R.; Hottiger, M. O.

2026-02-19 molecular biology
10.64898/2026.02.18.706611 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Cardiac fibrosis is a central driver of adverse remodeling during heart failure, yet the post-translational regulation of myofibroblast activation remains poorly defined. Here, we identified PARP6 as a mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase that repressed myofibroblast activation through the ADP-ribosylation of vimentin. PARP6 expression was reduced in failing human hearts and Parp6 haploinsufficiency in mice was sufficient to induce cardiac fibrosis. At the cellular level, PARP6 ADP-ribosylated vimentin thereby limiting actin stress fiber formation. Mechanistically, PARP6 inhibition enhanced RhoA activation and vimentin-RhoA complex formation, thus activating the RhoA-ROCK-LIMK-cofilin pathway. Consistently, Parp6 haploinsufficiency was associated with increased cofilin phosphorylation in mice hearts. In primary cardiac fibroblasts, PARP6 inhibition promoted RhoA-dependent actin stress fiber accumulation and induced myofibrotic protein expression. Together, these findings define a PARP6-vimentin(ADP-ribosylation)-RhoA axis that restrained contractility-driven fibroblast activation, indicating a cardioprotective role of PARP6 with potential therapeutic relevance for fibrotic heart disease.

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