Empagliflozin Preserves Cardiomyocyte Structural Homeostasis via the Stabilization of the Integrin α5–Desmocollin-2 Adhesion Axis in Sepsis-Induced Cardiomyopathy

Sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy is a life-threatening complication lacking targeted therapies. While empagliflozin (Empa), a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, confers robust cardioprotection, its specific efficacy in treating sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy and the Empa mechanisms remain poorly defined, limiting its targeted therapeutic use. In this study, we investigated Empa's effects and its novel mechanisms in a murine lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced model of septic cardiomyopathy. Empa pre-treatment effectively prevented LPS-induced cardiac dysfunction, preserving ejection fraction and mitigating myocardial injury (assessed by histology and ELISA) and fibrosis. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that Empa's protective effects were profoundly linked to the preservation of cardiomyocyte cytoskeletal pathways, alongside its anti-inflammatory actions. The results indicate that LPS induced a pathological dissociation of the matrix protein Integrin α5 (ITGA5) from the cell-cell adhesion protein Desmocollin-2 (DSC2), a structural disruption completely abrogated by Empa in vivo. This ITGA5-DSC2 stabilization was further confirmed to be a cardiomyocyte-intrinsic effect, recapitulated in vitro in both neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes and human AC16 cells. Building on this mechanistic insight, a computational design was successfully employed to develop 13 novel helical protein binders specifically targeting the ITGA5, yielding candidates with favorable structural properties as potential therapeutic leads. These findings establish the cardiomyocyte structural homeostasis via the ITGA5-DSC2 adhesion axis as a novel, key SGLT2-independent mechanism for empagliflozin's cardioprotection, revealing promising new therapeutic approaches for sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy.