BACKGROUND

Maladaptive changes in the function, expression and localization of proteins involved in calcium-handling worsen the impaired contractility of systolic heart failure (HF). Standard proteomics techniques require cell lysis and so are unable to characterize changes specific to the critical subcellular domain bounded by the T-tubule and the sarcoplasmic reticulum, known as the cardiac dyad. Traditional approaches are also less likely to capture low-affinity protein-protein interactions on lipid membranes. To improve our understanding of heart failure pathophysiology, we applied proximity proteomics to the cardiac dyad of mice with ischemic cardiomyopathy.

METHODS

Using two lines of transgenic mice expressing fusion proteins of the engineered ascorbate peroxidase APEX2 with subunits of the cardiac voltage gated calcium channel, Ca1.2, we labeled the dyad proteome of live, intact myocytes from healthy mice (N=6) and mice with coronary artery ligation HF (N=5) by peroxidase-catalyzed biotinylation. Quantitative mass spectrometry with isobaric tandem mass tags (TMT) was used to assess alterations in the local dyad proteome in myocytes from mice with chronic, remodeled HF. We subsequently generated a mouse with inducible cardiac overexpression of Galectin-1 to examine the effects of this protein on cardiac function and more specifically on the calcium-handling properties of mature myocytes, using cellular electrophysiology, calcium imaging, and echocardiography.

RESULTS

From mice with HF, we found significant enrichment of 43 proteins defined by their abundance and proximity to transgenic Ca1.2 α channels, and a significant reduction in 22 proteins, out a of a total of 2326 proteins quantified. We also significantly enriched 286 proteins, and saw a reduction in 13 proteins, defined by proximity and abundance to Ca1.2 β-subunits, out of a total 2236 proteins identified. Pathway analysis revealed HF is associated with increased abundance of components of the 26s proteasome and microtubules in the dyad, as well as the dimerizing, carbohydrate binding protein Galectin-1. Cardiac specific overexpression of Galectin-1 in healthy mice increases activation of Ca1.2 and the Ryanodine receptor and accelerates myocyte relaxation through phosphorylation of Phospholamban.

CONCLUSIONS

Using proximity proteomics to examine the effects of HF , we find increased localization of Galectin-1 to the cardiac dyad, and that overexpression of Galectin-1 accelerates calcium kinetics in the heart.