BACKGROUND

Calcium (Ca) is a key regulator of energy metabolism. Impaired Ca homeostasis damages mitochondria, causing cardiomyocyte death, pathological hypertrophy, and heart failure. This study investigates the regulation and the role of the mitochondrial Ca uniporter (MCU) in chronic stress-induced pathological cardiac remodeling.

METHODS

MCU knockout or transgenic mice were infused with isoproterenol (ISO; 10 mg/kg per day, 4 weeks). Cardiac hypertrophy and remodeling were evaluated by echocardiography and histology. Primary cultured rodent adult cardiomyocytes were treated with ISO (1 nmol/L, 48 hours). Intracellular Ca handling and cell death pathways were monitored. Adenovirus-mediated gene manipulations were used in vitro.

RESULTS

Chronic administration of the β-adrenergic receptor agonist ISO increased the levels of the MCU and the MCU complex in cardiac mitochondria, raising mitochondrial Ca concentrations, in vivo and in vitro. ISO also upregulated MCU without affecting its regulatory proteins in adult cardiomyocytes. It is interesting that ISO-induced cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, contractile dysfunction, and cardiomyocyte death were exacerbated in global MCU knockout mice. Cardiomyocytes from knockout mice or overexpressing a dominant negative MCU exhibited defective intracellular Ca handling and activation of multiple cell death pathways. Conversely, cardiac-specific overexpression of MCU maintained intracellular Ca homeostasis and contractility, suppressed cell death, and prevented ISO-induced heart hypertrophy. ISO upregulated MCU expression through activation of Ca/calmodulin kinase II δB (CaMKIIδB) and promotion of its nuclear translocation via calcineurin-mediated dephosphorylation at serine 332. Nuclear CaMKIIδB phosphorylated CREB (cAMP-response element binding protein), which bound the promoter to enhance gene transcription.

CONCLUSIONS

The β-adrenergic receptor/CaMKIIδB/CREB pathway upregulates gene expression in the heart. MCU upregulation is a compensatory mechanism that counteracts stress-induced pathological cardiac remodeling by preserving Ca homeostasis and cardiomyocyte viability.