# TRIM52 Protects Against Doxorubicin‐Induced Cardiac Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Cardiac Injury

**Authors:** Zhaoxia Zhang, Hongzhen Chen, Yingchu Hu, Jiedong Zhou, Yiqi Lu, Tingsha Du, Zhenyu Jia, Jia Su, Weiping Du

PMC · DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.71016 · Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine · 2026-01-09

## TL;DR

TRIM52 deficiency protects the heart from doxorubicin-induced damage by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress through activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway.

## Contribution

TRIM52 is identified as a novel therapeutic target for mitigating doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity.

## Key findings

- TRIM52 deficiency reduces doxorubicin-induced cardiac injury and dysfunction.
- TRIM52 deletion activates the PI3K/AKT pathway, offering cardioprotection.
- TRIM52 deficiency attenuates oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in the heart.

## Abstract

Tripartite motif 52 (TRIM52) has been identified as a key regulator of inflammatory responses. However, its involvement in doxorubicin (DOX)‐induced cardiotoxicity (DIC) and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. To investigate the functional role of TRIM52, we employed an adeno‐associated virus serotype 9 (AAV9) delivery system to achieve cardiac‐specific Trim52 knockout via tail‐vein injection. C57BL/6 mice received intraperitoneal DOX (5 mg/kg, administered once a week, with a total cumulative dose of 15 mg/kg). Myocardial injury was evaluated by histopathological assessment and molecular profiling of cardiac tissues, complemented by in vitro mechanistic studies using neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes. In vivo and in vitro studies revealed that DOX treatment significantly upregulated TRIM52 expression. Trim52 deficiency effectively mitigated DOX‐induced cardiac injury and dysfunction, concomitantly attenuating oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. Mechanistically, Trim52 deletion markedly enhanced PI3K and AKT phosphorylation, indicating that PI3K/AKT pathway activation underlies the cardioprotective effects of TRIM52 deficiency. Our findings demonstrate that TRIM52 deletion activates PI3K/AKT signalling and attenuates DOX‐induced oxidative and inflammatory myocardial damage. These data identify TRIM52 as a potential therapeutic target for mitigating DIC.

## Linked entities

- **Genes:** TRIM52 (tripartite motif containing 52) [NCBI Gene 84851]
- **Chemicals:** doxorubicin (PubChem CID 31703)

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** Trim52 (tripartite motif-containing 52) [NCBI Gene 212085] {aka 4921513B05Rik}, Pik3r1 (phosphoinositide-3-kinase regulatory subunit 1) [NCBI Gene 18708] {aka PI3K, p50alpha, p55alpha, p85alpha}, Akt1 (Akt serine/threonine kinase 1) [NCBI Gene 11651] {aka Akt, LTR-akt, PKB, PKB/Akt, PKBalpha, Rac}
- **Diseases:** cardiotoxicity (MESH:D066126), Cardiac Inflammation (MESH:D007249), Cardiac Injury (MESH:D006331), Myocardial injury (MESH:D009202)
- **Chemicals:** DOX (MESH:D004317)
- **Species:** Mus musculus (house mouse, species) [taxon 10090]

## Full text

_Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12784278/full.md

## Figures

7 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12784278/full.md

## References

26 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12784278/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12784278