Is Ryanodine Receptor Phosphorylation Key to the Fight Or Flight Response and Heart Failure? Thomas Eschenhagen
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
commentaries cal for superinfection by cytomegalovirus. Science. tion by disruption of H60-NKG2D interactions. in immune-evasive genes from the cytomegalovirus 2010;328(5974):102–106. J Exp Med. 2004;200(8):1075–1081. genome as a novel vaccine strategy. J Virol. 2007; 18. Slavuljica I, et al. Recombinant mouse cytomegalo- 21. Pinto AK, Jamieson AM, Raulet DH, Hill AB. The 81(24):13825–13834. virus expressing a ligand for the NKG2D receptor role of NKG2D signaling in inhibition of cyto- 24. Crumpler MM, Choi KY, McVoy MA, Schleiss MR. is attenuated and has improved vaccine properties. toxic T-lymphocyte lysis by the murine cytomega- A live guinea pig cytomegalovirus vaccine deleted J Clin Invest. 2010;120(12):4532–4545. lovirus immunoevasin m152/gp40. J Virol. 2007; of three putative immune evasion genes is highly 19. Krmpotic A, et al. NK cell activation through the 81(22):12564–12571. attenuated but remains immunogenic in a vaccine/ NKG2D ligand MULT-1 is selectively prevented by 22. Arapovic J, Lenac Rovis T, Reddy AB, Krmpotic A, challenge model of congenital cytomegalovirus the glycoprotein encoded by mouse cytomegalovi- Jonjic S. Promiscuity of MCMV immunoevasin of infection. Vaccine. 2009;27(31):4209–4218. rus gene m145. J Exp Med. 2005;201(2):211–220. NKG2D: m138/fcr-1 down-modulates RAE-1epsi- 25. Söderberg-Nauclér C. Does cytomegalovirus play a 20. Lodoen MB, Abenes G, Umamoto S, Houchins JP, lon in addition to MULT-1 and H60. Mol Immunol. causative role in the development of various inflam- Liu F, Lanier LL. The cytomegalovirus m155 gene 2009;47(1):114–122. matory diseases and cancer? J Intern Med. 2006; product subverts natural killer cell antiviral protec- 23. Cicin-Sain L, et al. Targeted deletion of regions rich 259(3):219–246. Is ryanodine receptor phosphorylation key to the fight or flight response and heart failure? Thomas Eschenhagen Department of Experimental Pharmacology and Toxicology, Cardiovascular Research Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. In situations of stress the heart beats faster and stronger. According to changes in excitation-contraction coupling, Marks and colleagues, this response is, to a large extent, the consequence of i.e., the relationship between the cardiac facilitated Ca2+ release from intracellular Ca2+ stores via ryanodine receptor 2 action potential and myofilament activa- (RyR2), thought to be due to catecholamine-induced increases in RyR2 tion (Figure 1 of this commentary). When phosphorylation at serine 2808 (S2808). If catecholamine stimulation is the cell depolarizes during a cardiac action sustained (for example, as occurs in heart failure), RyR2 becomes hyper- potential, L-type Ca2+ channels (LTCCs) phosphorylated and “leaky,” leading to arrhythmias and other pathology. open, allowing Ca2+ to enter the cell. This This “leaky RyR2 hypothesis” is highly controversial. In this issue of the so-called trigger Ca2+ induces a much larger JCI, Marks and colleagues report on two new mouse lines with mutations Ca2+ release from intracellular Ca2+ stores, in S2808 that provide strong evidence supporting their theory. Moreover, known as the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), the experiments revealed an influence of redox modifications of RyR2 that via large tetrameric ryanodine-sensitive may account for some discrepancies in the field. channels, referred to as ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2). The increase in Ca2+ concentra- The heart has a remarkable capacity to react node cells (the cells that generate the action tion initiates a conformational change in to altered demand by changing the rate at potentials that trigger cardiac contraction) the myofilaments and thereby contrac- which it beats and the force with which it and thus acceleration of heart rate (i.e., it tion. Removal of Ca2+ from the cytosol via contracts, thereby changing its output. has a “positive chronotropic effect”) and the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Both the reduction of cardiac output in stronger contraction (i.e., it has a “posi- Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA) and the Na+/Ca2+ phases of rest and its increase in physical tive inotropic effect”) and faster relaxation exchanger (NCX) in the plasmalemma and emotional exercise (the fight or flight (i.e., it has a “positive lusitropic effect”) in reverses the process. Importantly, the response) are essential for normal body working myocytes. In chronic heart failure, amount of Ca2+ entering the cell is, under homeostasis and long-term survival. It is one of the most frequent life-threatening normal conditions, exactly matched by not surprising therefore that cardiac rate diseases in Western societies, norepineph- the amount of Ca2+ leaving it via the NCX. and force are regulated at multiple levels, rine levels are chronically elevated, which b1-Adrenergic receptors stimulate the sys- extrinsic and intrinsic to the heart, and leads to desensitization of the b-adrenergic tem at numerous levels via PKA (Figure 1 in a highly complex and secured fashion. signalling cascade and blunted responses. of this commentary). Phosphorylation of Stimulation of b1-adrenergic receptors by b-Blockers, introduced by Waagstein and LTCCs increases their open probability, the sympathetic neurotransmitter norepi- colleagues in the mid 1970s, protect the allowing more Ca2+ to enter the cell. Phos- nephrine induces increased production of heart from chronic sympathetic stimula- phorylation of phospholamban (PLB), a the second messenger cAMP. cAMP direct- tion and provide the largest prognostic ben- small protein that when unphosphorylated ly and indirectly (via activation of PKA) efit for patients with chronic heart failure. inhibits SERCA, leads to disinhibition, i.e., induces faster depolarization in sinoatrial increased reuptake of Ca2+ into the SR. This Cardiac excitation-contraction has at least two consequences: first, more coupling Ca2+ in the SR and therefore more Ca2+ Conflict of interest: The author has declared that no conflict of interest exists. The positive inotropic and lusitropic con- release during systole, which has a positive 2+ Citation for this article: J Clin Invest. 2010; sequences of b1-adrenergic receptor stimu- inotropic effect; and second, faster Ca 120(12):4197–4203. doi:10.1172/JCI45251. lation in cardiomyocytes are explained by removal from the cytoplasm and thus faster The Journal of Clinical Investigation http://www.jci.org Volume 120 Number 12 December 2010 4197 commentaries Figure 1 The classical view of cardiomyocyte excitation-contraction coupling and its regulation by b-adrenergic receptors. Under unstimulated conditions (black arrows), depolarization during an action potential opens LTCCs in T tubules, allowing Ca2+ to enter the cell. This trig- ger Ca2+ induces a larger Ca2+ release from the SR via RyR2. The increase in Ca2+ concentration initiates conformational changes of the myofilaments and thereby contraction. Removal of Ca2+ via SERCA and NCX reverses the process. Catecholamines stimulate excitation- contraction coupling (red symbols and lettering) by phosphorylating LTCCs (increased Ca2+ influx), PLB (increased Ca2+ reuptake into the SR), and myofilament-based troponin I and myosin-binding protein C (increased relaxation). AC, adenylyl cyclase; Gs, stimulatory G pro- tein. Adapted with permission from Nature (35). relaxation (i.e., a positive lusitropic effect). also known as calstabin), a small regula- lation affects FKPB12.6 binding. Third, it PKA also phosphorylates the myofilament tory protein that had been known since the seems unlikely and to contradict experi- proteins troponin inhibitor and myosin- early 1990s as a target of two immunosup- mental results (4) that an isolated increase binding protein C, which desensitizes the pressant drugs, tacrolimus (also known as in RyR2 open probability has more than a myofilaments to Ca2+ and facilitates relax- FK506) and rapamycin. Moreover, Marks transient consequence on Ca2+ handling, ation (i.e., positive lusitropic effects). and colleagues provided evidence that because an isolated increase in Ca2+ release RyR2 is chronically hyperphosphorylated from the RyR2 will automatically lead to RyR2 phosphorylation determines in human heart failure and therefore reduced Ca2+ load in the SR and therefore excitation-contraction coupling gain “leaky” (2). Leaky RyR2 channels in turn fast normalization of Ca2+ transients (auto- In the signalling scheme outlined in Fig- could explain both the reduced Ca2+ load of regulation). Thus, leaky RyR2 channels ure 1 of this commentary, which prevailed the SR (which leads to reduced contractile alone, in contrast to super active SERCA (as until the end of the last century, the two force of the failing heart) and the increased in the case of Plb knockout; ref. 1), should major determinants of intracellular Ca2+ risk of spontaneous diastolic Ca2+ release, not affect the basal force of contraction. Of transients and thereby the contractile force which, secondary to Ca2+ extrusion via the course, theoretical arguments can be dis- of the heart were (a) the size of the Ca2+ electrogenic NCX, could explain arrhyth- puted and require experimental validation. current entering via the LTCC (well exem- mias. In this theory, PKA phosphorylation It is now well established that point muta- plified by the negative inotropic effects of RyR2 and the subsequent dissociation tions in RyR2 can cause catecholaminer- of LTCC blockers) and (b) the activity of of FKBP12.6 is the unifying mechanism gic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia SERCA and thus the Ca2+