Cardiac function and phosphorylation of contractile proteins

Differential roles of regulatory light chain and myosin binding protein-C phosphorylations in the modulation of cardiac force development

Phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chain (RLC) by myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) and myosin binding protein-C (cMyBP-C) by protein kinase A (PKA) independently accelerate the kinetics of force development in ventricular myocardium. However, while MLCK treatment has been shown to increase the Ca(2+) sensitivity of force (pCa(50)), PKA treatment has been shown to decrease pCa(50), presumably due to cardiac troponin I phosphorylation. Further, MLCK treatment increases Ca(2+)-independent force and maximum Ca(2+)-activated force, whereas PKA treatment has no effect on either force. To investigate the structural basis underlying the kinase-specific differential effects on steady-state force, we used synchrotron low-angle X-ray diffraction to compare equatorial intensity ratios (I(1,1)/I(1,0)) to assess the proximity of myosin cross-bridge mass relative to actin and to compare lattice spacings (d(1,0)) to assess the inter-thick filament spacing in skinned myocardium following treatment with either MLCK or PKA. As we showed previously, PKA phosphorylation of cMyBP-C increases I(1,1)/I(1,0) and, as hypothesized, treatment with MLCK also increased I(1,1)/I(1,0), which can explain the accelerated rates of force development during activation. Importantly, interfilament spacing was reduced by 2 nm (3.5%) with MLCK treatment, but did not change with PKA treatment. Thus, RLC or cMyBP-C phosphorylation increases the proximity of cross-bridges to actin, but only RLC phosphorylation affects lattice spacing, which suggests that RLC and cMyBP-C modulate the kinetics of force development by similar structural mechanisms; however, the effect of RLC phosphorylation to increase the Ca(2+) sensitivity of force is mediated by a distinct mechanism, most probably involving changes in interfilament spacing.

Contractile properties of skinned preparations from ischaemic canine myocardium and coronary arteries

The influence of prolonged ischaemia on the regulation of contraction in the myocardium and in the smooth muscle of coronary arteries was investigated. Chemically skinned preparations were used which enabled the contraction to be studied with the environment of the contractile filaments controlled. Myocardial ischaemia was produced in anesthetized adult beagle dogs by occlusion of the left anterior descending artery for 3 h and followed by 30 min reperfusion. Myocardial tissue and segments from coronary arteries were obtained from the ischaemic infarcted wall region ("in vivo ischaemic") and compared with control preparations from perfused coronary arteries and from the free wall of the left ventricle. Coronary and myocardial preparations were also obtained from the heart after a 3 h period in vitro under anoxic conditions at 37 degrees C ("in vitro ischaemic") simulating a state of extreme ischaemia. Control myocardial fibres were fully relaxed at pCa (-log-[Ca2+]) 9 and developed 24 +/- 5% (n = 7) of maximum force at intermediate calcium concentration (pCa 5.5). In contrast, the in vivo and in vitro ischaemic preparations produced force at pCa 9 (28 +/- 13 and 39 +/- 8%, respectively, n = 5 and 7) and showed an increased force development at pCa 5.5 (53 +/- 11 and 75 +/- 5%). The in vivo and in vitro ischaemic coronary arteries relaxed more slowly following calcium removal than control vessels. The in vitro ischaemic vascular preparations developed active force at pCa 9 and showed increased levels of myosin light chain phosphorylation and reduced phosphatase activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Increased oxygen cost of contractility in stunned myocardium of dog

Recent studies have shown that myocardial oxygen consumption does not proportionally decrease with the deterioration of contractile function in stunned myocardium. To investigate this disproportion, we studied the end-systolic pressure-volume relation and the relation between oxygen consumption per beat (VO2) and systolic pressure-volume area (PVA, a measure of total mechanical energy) in stunned hearts. In the VO2-PVA relation, VO2 can be divided into PVA-dependent and PVA-independent fractions. In excised cross-circulated dog left ventricles, a 15-minute normothermic global ischemia followed by 60-120 minutes of reperfusion significantly decreased the ventricular contractility index (Emax) by approximately 40%, but the PVA-independent VO2 did not significantly decrease. Oxygen cost of PVA, defined as the slope of the VO2-PVA relation, was slightly decreased in stunned hearts. Restoration of the depressed Emax to the preischemic control level by calcium infusion increased the PVA-independent VO2 to 137 +/- 27% of control level (p less than 0.01). Oxygen cost of contractility, defined as the slope of the relation between PVA-independent VO2 and Emax, increased from 0.0011 +/- 0.0003 to 0.0023 +/- 0.0005 ml O2.ml.mm Hg-1.beat-1 per 100 g myocardium in control and stunned hearts, respectively (p less than 0.01). From these new finding, we conclude that the unchanged VO2, despite the depressed contractility in stunned myocardium, is mainly due to the increased oxygen cost of contractility.

Tumor-promoting phorbol esters inhibit cardiac functions and induce redistribution of protein kinase C in perfused beating rat heart

Activation of protein kinase C has been implicated in the regulation of a variety of cellular reactions. Although we, and others, have found protein kinase C and its substrate proteins to be present in both membrane and cytosolic fractions in the heart, the physiologic role of this kinase in the regulation of cardiac functions remains unknown. In the present study, we found that in isolated perfused rat heart, administration of phorbol esters 4 beta-phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate(PDBu) and 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate(TPA), which are specific activators of protein kinase C, produced marked dose-dependent negative changes in inotropy and chronotropy. A dose-dependent decrease in coronary flow was also observed. The diacylglycerol analogues, 1,2-oleoylacetyl-glycerol and 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol, produced similar effects as the active phorbol esters on these isolated perfused hearts. An inactive analogue of phorbol ester, 4 alpha-phorbol, failed to produce any effect. Protein kinase C activity in both membrane and cytosolic fractions prepared from rat heart could be activated by TPA and PDBu at the same concentration range as used in the experiments with perfused hearts. Following perfusion of the hearts with PDBu, a rapid translocation of protein kinase C from cytosolic to membrane fractions was also observed. Our findings provide the first direct evidence that protein kinase C may play a potentially important role in the regulation of cardiac functions.

Phosphorylation of bovine cardiac C-protein by protein kinase C

C-protein, a thick filament-associated protein, has been isolated from bovine myocardium and found to be a substrate in vitro of the Ca2+- and phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase C). Incorporation of approximately 1.6 mol Pi/mol C-protein was observed. This phosphorylation was dependent on both Ca2+ and a phospholipid (L-alpha-phosphatidyl-L-serine was used). Phosphate incorporation specifically into C-protein was verified by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography and was almost exclusively into serine residues (86.9%), with only a small amount of phosphothreonine (13.1%) and no phosphotyrosine being detected. Two-dimensional thin-layer electrophoresis of a chymotryptic digest of phosphorylated C-protein indicated site specificity of phosphorylation. Cardiac C-protein is known to be a substrate of cAMP-dependent protein kinase both in vitro and in vivo (Jeacocke, S.A. and England, P.J. (1980) FEBS Lett. 122, 129-132). Isolated bovine cardiac C-protein was rapidly phosphorylated, to the extent of 5 mol/mol, by the purified catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Phosphorylation catalyzed by these two protein kinases was not additive, suggesting that the sites phosphorylated by protein kinase C are also phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Chicken cardiac muscle has also been shown to contain a Ca2+, calmodulin-dependent protein kinase which phosphorylates C-protein (Hartzell, H.C. and Glass, D.B. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 15587-15596). The physiological role of cardiac C-protein may therefore be subject to regulation by multiple protein kinases.

Effects of phosphorylated and unphosphorylated C-protein on cardiac actomyosin ATPase

C-protein, a component of the thick filaments of striated muscles, is reversibly phosphorylated and dephosphorylated in heart. It has been hypothesized that C-protein may be involved in regulating contraction, because the extent of C-protein phosphorylation correlates with the rate of cardiac relaxation. To test this hypothesis, the effects of phosphorylated and unphosphorylated C-protein on the actin-activated ATPase activity of myosin filaments prepared from DEAE-Sephadex-purified myosin were examined. Unphosphorylated C-protein (0.1 microM to 1.5 microM) stimulated actin-activated myosin ATPase activity in a dose-dependent manner. With a myosin: C-protein molar ratio of approximately 1, actin-activated myosin ATPase activity was elevated up to 3.2 times that of the control. Phosphorylated C-protein (2.5 mol PO4/mol C-protein) stimulated the activity somewhat less (2.5 times that of control). The stimulation of ATPase activity by C-protein was due to an increase in the Vmax value (from 0.25/second to 0.62/second) and a decrease in the Km value (from 11.9 microM to 6.7 microM). The addition of C-protein to actomyosin solutions produced an increase in the light-scattering of the actomyosin solution and a distinct precipitation of the actomyosin with time. Phosphorylated C-protein had a smaller effect on light-scattering than dephosphorylated C-protein. C-protein had a negligible effect on Ca-ATPase, EDTA-K-ATPase, or Mg-ATPase activities in the absence of actin. C-protein had only small effects on the actin-activated ATPase of heavy meromyosin. These results suggest that C-protein stimulates actin-activated myosin ATPase activity by enhancing the formation of stable aggregates between actin and myosin filaments.

Structure of C protein purified from cardiac muscle

C protein is a component of the thick filament of striated muscles. Although the function of C protein remains unknown, a variety of evidence suggests that C protein may regulate actin-myosin interaction or be involved in structural support or elasticity of the sarcomere. We have previously proposed (Hartzell, H. C., 1984, J. Gen. Physiol., 83:563-588) that C protein is involved in regulating twitch relaxation in cardiac muscle. To gain further insight into the function of C protein, we have studied the structure of C protein purified from chicken heart. C protein was purified from extracts of detergent-washed myofibrils by sequential hydroxylapatite and DEAE-Sephacel chromatography. C protein was judged greater than 95% pure by SDS PAGE. The polypeptide subunit had a molecular weight of 155,000 and the native molecule sedimented on linear sucrose or glycerol gradients at 4-5S. For electron microscopy, purified C protein was dialyzed and diluted into a volatile buffer in 50% glycerol, aspirated onto mica, dried under vacuum, and rotary platinum-shadowed. Replicas revealed particles of relatively homogeneous overall dimensions. Over half of the particles were V-shaped. The "arm" lengths of the V-shaped particles were 22 +/- 4.5 nm (SD). Gel filtration on Sephacryl S-300 demonstrated that purified C protein had a Stokes' radius of 5.07 nm. Measurements of viscosity gave an intrinsic viscosity of 16.5 cm3/g. These data are consistent with the electron microscopic data and suggest that C protein in heart muscle is asymmetric. The C protein molecule is large enough to extend from the surface of a thick filament to adjacent thin or thick filaments.