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Submitted on December 17, 2007
Revised on May 11, 2009
Accepted on May 18, 2009
From the Departments of Internal Medicine (Cardiology) (S.T., Y.W., T.T.W., N.J., X.L., B.A.R., J.A.H.) and Molecular Biology (J.A.H.), University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas; and Department of Pharmacology (D.D.H., J.W.H.), University of Iowa, Iowa City.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: joseph.hill{at}UTsouthwestern.edu.
The L-type Ca2+ channel (LTCC) is the major mediator of Ca2+ influx in cardiomyocytes, leading to both mechanical contraction and activation of signaling cascades. Among these Ca2+-activated cascades is calcineurin, a protein phosphatase that promotes hypertrophic growth of the heart. Coimmunoprecipitations from heart extracts and pulldowns using heterologously expressed proteins provided evidence for direct binding of calcineurin at both the N and C termini of
11.2. At the C terminus, calcineurin bound specifically at amino acids 1943 to 1971, adjacent to a well-characterized protein kinase (PK)A/PKC/PKG phospho-acceptor site Ser1928. In vitro assays demonstrated that calcineurin can dephosphorylate
11.2. Channel function was increased in voltage-clamp recordings of ICa,L from cultured cardiomyocytes expressing constitutively active calcineurin, consistent with previous observations in cardiac hypertrophy in vivo. Conversely, acute suppression of calcineurin pharmacologically or with specific peptides decreased ICa,L. These data reveal direct physical interaction between the LTCC and calcineurin in heart. Furthermore, they demonstrate that calcineurin induces robust increases in ICa,L and highlight calcineurin as a key modulator of pathological electric remodeling in cardiac hypertrophy.
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