Evidence for new forms of cardiac myosin heavy chains in mechanical heart overloading and in ageing

The cardiac myosin heavy chain Arg-403-->Gln mutation that causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy does not affect the actin- or ATP-binding capacities of two size-limited recombinant myosin heavy chain fragments

Our aim was to investigate the potential functional consequences of myosin heavy chain (MHC) mutations identified in patients with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We observed the presence of a mutated beta-MHC mRNA in a formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded myocardial tissue of a proband from family A, which Geisterfer-Lowrance et al. [Geisterfer-Lowrance, Kass, Tanigawa, Vosberg, McKenna, Seidman and Seidman (1990) Cell 62, 999-1006] identified as carrying the Arg-403 to Gln mutation. Recombinant DNA methods were then used to obtain size-limited, soluble and undenatured fragments of mutated myosin subfragment 1 focused around the 403 mutation. The present analysis indicated that the 403 mutation did not quantitatively alter the actin- or ATP-binding capacities of two 246-residue or 524-residue-long recombinant MHC fragments containing this mutation. The absence of any apparent impact of the 403 mutation in the recombinant MHC fragments on interactions between actin and ATP is discussed in relation to numerous biochemical and structural reports which demonstrate the crucial role of the central MHC segment, where the 403 mutation occurs, in myosin functions.

Mapping of the actomyosin interfaces

Recombinant DNA methods were used to obtain soluble, undenatured fragments of the heavy chain of myosin subfragment 1 (S-1). These fragments were of preselected lengths and could include protease-sensitive segments that are destroyed when other preparation methods are used. Actin binding by each of the three contiguous segments (residues 1-248, 249-524, and 518-722, essentially spanning the entire S-1 heavy chain) was demonstrated. ATP binding, comparable to that of native S-1, was obtained only with a segment consisting of residues 1-524. Competition among the various fragments for actin was also studied. The data are discussed in relation to the recently reported resolved structure of S-1 [Rayment, I., Rypnieski, R. W., Schmidt-Bäse, K., Smith, R., Tomchick, D. R., Benning, M. M., Winkelmann, D. A., Wesenberg, G. & Holden, H. M. (1993) Science 261, 50-58].

Age-dependent differences of ATP breakdown and ATP-catabolite release in ischemic and reperfused hearts

The hearts of young (6 months) and aged (24 months) rats, paced at a frequency of 300 bpm, were perfused by the Langendorff technique and subjected to: 20 min of equilibration perfusion, 30 min of global ischemia (95% reduction of the coronary flow) and 20 min of reperfusion. The control group was equilibrated for 20 min and then aerobically perfused for 50 min. After 20 min of stabilization, ATP and ADP levels and the adenine nucleotide pool were significantly higher in young than aged hearts (15% increase), but no modifications were found between the two age groups after 50 min of aerobic perfusion. Even the energy charge did not change under aerobic conditions. At the end of the ischemic period the levels of ATP and ADP decreased to a similar extent in young and aged hearts. After 20 min of reperfusion the myocardial level of ATP remained lower in comparison to the preischemic and control values in both age groups. At the end of the reperfusion there was a decrease in energy charge and creatine phosphate levels in the aged group in respect to the young group. The concentrations of adenosine, hypoxanthine and xanthine in coronary effluents did not change during ischemia and reperfusion irrespective of the age of the animals. On the contrary, the release of uric acid during ischemia and reperfusion was greater in aged than young hearts (90% increase). Moreover, the level of inosine in perfusates during the ischemic period was significantly lower in the 24-month-old group (30% decrease). These results are in accordance with the increased purine nucleoside phosphorylase activity and the decreased hypoxanthine phosphorybosyl-transferase activity found in the myocardium of the aged vs. young rats at the end of the reperfusion period. These data indicate that in the aged rat hearts, when exposed to ischemic and reperfusion conditions, there is a modification of purine breakdown which leads to a greater production of uric acid in respect to that found in young hearts.

Expression of human beta-myosin heavy chain fragments in Escherichia coli; localization of actin interfaces on cardiac myosin

A cDNA clone coding for an internal fragment of slow-cardiac beta-myosin heavy chain was isolated from a lambda gt10 human skeletal muscle library. Six overlapping cDNA subclones, which span myosin heavy chain subregions and presumably interact with actin, were derived from this clone, fused to a beta-galactosidase vector and expressed in Escherichia coli. Three of the subclones were obtained by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) which enables gene or cDNA fragments to be amplified independently of preexisting restriction sites. Initially, various experiments were carried out using a long MHC (myosin heavy chain) fusion protein containing the 50 kDa-20 kDa connecting region, the whole 20 kDa region and the short subfragment 2 region. This MHC fusion protein was chemically or proteolytically cleaved in the same conditions as the native myosin molecule. Whole and truncated forms of the MHC fusion protein were separated on polyacrylamide gels, electroblotted on nitrocellulose sheets and renatured. They were then assayed in overlay experiments with F-actin and/or myosin light chains in solution. Specific antibodies were used to detect interactions between heavy chain fragments and F-actin or light chains. We thus observed that one long heavy chain fragment synthesized by E. coli behaved like proteolytic or chemical MHC preparations made from native myosin molecules. Two chymotryptic fragments of the MHC fusion protein, which are soluble at low ionic strength, cosedimented with F-actin in solution. Our results demonstrate that, in actin overlay experiments with whole fusion proteins, interactions seem to be due to the heavy chain fragment, not to the bacterial component. All interactions were non ATP-sensitive. We further investigated the possible participation of the six recombinant MHC fragments in contributing to the actomyosin interfaces on the 50 kDa-20 kDa regions of the human cardiac beta-MHC. The present procedure, which enables the synthesis of any MHC fragment independent of any protease site, is a powerful new tool for studying structure-function relationships within the myosin molecule family.

Adult cardiac muscle cells in long-term serum-free culture: myofibrillar organization and expression of myosin heavy chain isoforms

A culture system for adult rat cardiac muscle cells has been established without exposure of cells to serum at any step of the procedure. The methodology has been standardized and optimized to obtain better quality and high yield of cells and culture. Subsequent to enzyme perfusion, the release of myocytes from enzyme-perfused tissues was carried out in enzyme-free Joklik's medium instead of exposing cells to proteolytic enzyme(s) as done previously. Approximately 5 million cylindrical muscle cells per ventricle were obtained. The culture medium contained Eagle's minimum essential medium with Earle's salts, basic fibroblast growth factor, epidermal growth factor, insulin, transferrin, selenium, norepinephrine, triiodothyronine (T3), bovine serum albumin, nonessential amino acids, and ascorbic acid. The plating efficiency of the experimental cultures was comparable to that of the control cultures grown in the presence of serum. The cells in the serum-free medium contained myofibrillar and myosin isoforms characteristics of the adult myocytes. The cells underwent cellular reorganization comparable to that of the controls. The initial phase of reorganization involved the breakdown of myofibrils and extrusion of mitochondria, degraded myofibrils, and other cellular organelles. The latter phase of reorganization included myofibrillogenesis and organellogenesis resulting in the development of myofibrillar apparatus with cellular organelles. Myocytes were contractile throughout the culture period. Cardiac myocytes grown in serum-free medium expressed the predominant myosin isoform V1 similar to their counterparts in vivo. T3 is essential for the expression of isomyosin V1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Antioxidant enzyme activities in heart and skeletal muscle of rats of different ages

The activity of antioxidant enzymes was measured in cardiac and skeletal muscle in rats aged either 4, 15, or 27 months. Generally, regardless of age, heart contains a greater content of these enzymes than skeletal muscle. Whereas skeletal muscle showed age-dependent increases in glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and catalase activities, heart tissue showed increases in only the glutathione peroxidase activity. Neither tissue showed any significant age-dependent change in cytosolic or mitochondrial superoxide dismutase content or in cytochrome oxidase.

RNA transcription in myocardial-cell nuclei during postnatal development. A study establishing an assay system for transcription in vitro

A system for RNA transcription in vitro was established in order to determine the relative rate of RNA synthesis in neonatal and adult rat myocardial cells. This assay system optimizes the incorporation of [3H]UMP into RNA by using 3.5 x 10(7) myocardial-cell nuclei, and minimizes RNA degradation for at least 1 h in transcription in vitro, by the addition of human placental RNAase inhibitor. A 100% increase in the incorporation of [3H]UMP into myocardial-cell RNA was found on addition of this inhibitor. Myocardial-cell nuclei derived from 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-, and greater than 100-day-old rat hearts indicated that there is a progressive decrease in RNA synthesis with age. A 3-fold increase in RNA synthesis in 5-day-old myocardial cell nuclei as compared with 20-day-old rat heart was found. RNA synthesis in the adult myocardial cell nuclei decreased more than 10-fold in comparison with the 5-day-old newborn. The incorporation of [3H]UMP into rat liver nuclear RNA was 3-fold greater than in the myocardial-cell nuclear RNA, even when compared with the highly active transcription of 12-day-old heart nuclei. In order to determine the relationship between total RNA synthesis and the extent of specific gene expression in myocardial-cell nuclei during development, two distinct cDNA probes were used for Northern-blot analysis. Our results indicate that myosin-heavy-chain gene expression is remarkably decreased with age, whereas the 'housekeeping' gene is continually expressed independently of age.

Diminished cardiac hypertrophy and muscle performance in older compared with younger adult rats with chronic atrioventricular block

The combined effect of advancing age and hemodynamic overload on cardiac muscle function has received little attention. In male, Sprague-Dawley rats, we studied the interaction of chronic atrioventricular heart block induced by transvenous electrocautery for 4-12 months (mean, 7 months) and age at study (12, 19 +/- 0.7, and 24 +/- 0.2 months) on cardiac hypertrophy and muscle function compared with age-matched, sham-operated controls. Hypertrophy was determined by the ratio of heart weight to tibial length. Muscle function was first determined from the mechanical variables of the isometric contraction of an excised, thin, left ventricular trabecular muscle bathed at 29 degrees C under a variety of calcium concentrations and stimulation patterns. Then, in the same muscles after disruption of membranes with Triton X-100, the force-pCa curve of the myofibrils was obtained. No hypertrophy occurred with aging in the control group, but alteration in hypertrophy with age occurred in the block group such that the youngest animals with block had the most hypertrophy (170%) and the oldest animals with block the least hypertrophy (120%). The tension developed by cardiac muscle and the duration of the isometric contraction were not affected by age in the control group but were significantly affected by age in the block group. The young animals with block had a markedly prolonged contraction duration and almost twice the developed tension compared with the older animals with block or with controls. The age-related difference in muscle contraction duration in the block group was associated with, and may have only been secondary to, the age-related difference in the extent of cardiac hypertrophy. For developed tension, the age-related difference in the block group could not be explained by differences in the extent of cardiac hypertrophy. Rather, this difference was attributable to both an increased myofibrillar force-generating capacity in the young block and to an impairment in excitation-contraction coupling in the old block. The results show that during long-term block, age exerted not only a significant effect on the extent of cardiac hypertrophy but also an independent effect on the developed tension of cardiac muscle.

Atrial and ventricular myosins from human hearts. II. Isoenzyme distribution after myocardial infarction

Human atrial and ventricular myosins were prepared from autopsy specimens from subjects with coronary heart disease. Cardiac myosin light chain isotypes were resolved using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, whereas myosin isozymes were detected by pyrophosphate gel electrophoresis. Myocardial infarction and associated work overload cause a transition in the light chain complements of the myosins. Thus ventricular myosin light chains were found in pressure overloaded atria and atrial light chains have also been identified in the infarct ventricle of the human heart. Two molecular isoenzymes of the human atrial myosin, the relative proportions of which are changed after infarction, were separated under non-dissociating conditions by gel electrophoresis. A decrease in HA-3 and a corresponding increase in HA-1 were observed. Ventricular hypertrophy in patients with coronary insufficiency induces a second ventricle isomyosin, called HV-1, with the same electrophoretic mobility as HA-1. The relative part of this myosin type amounts to 20%. Comparative peptide mapping studies were carried out on myosin subfragment-1 preparations from normal and infarct ventricles. In the primary structures, the chymotrypsic digestions produced slight differences. These data demonstrate the heterogeneity of human atrial and ventricular myosins in patients with coronary heart disease.

Distribution of isomyosin in cultured cardiac myocytes as determined by monoclonal antibodies and adenosine triphosphatase activity

The distribution of isomyosin in cardiac muscle cells in culture has been investigated with monoclonal antibodies and Ca2+-activated myosin ATPase cytochemical staining. With immunofluorescent studies using monoclonal antibodies to isomyosins V1 and V3, the cardiac myocytes grown in a serum-free and thyroxine (T4)-free medium for 7 days contained a predominant population of cells which were strongly reactive to anti-V3 antibody. A small population of myocytes in this culture exhibited weak or no reaction to anti-V3 antibody. When cultures were exposed to anti-V1 antibody, the predominant cardiac myocyte population showed little or no reactivity to this antibody, whereas a small population of the myocytes were strongly reactive. The myosin ATPase staining reaction of the positive myocyte population was significantly less pronounced than that of the V3-negative population which showed a strong reaction. The staining pattern changed dramatically after exposure of cultured myocytes to thyroid hormone for 7 days. Most of the cells were found to react strongly with anti-V1 antibody, while some cells showed little reactivity and some were not stained at all. A small number of cardiac myocytes in this culture showed little or no reactivity to anti-V1 antibody but were strongly reactive to anti-V3 antibody. The predominant anti-V1-positive myocyte population exhibited strong myosin ATPase staining as compared to a smaller V3-positive myocyte population which showed very weak staining. The cytochemical results of ATPase staining in cardiac myocytes agreed well with ATPase activity as determined on pyrophosphate gels containing isomyosin derived from cultured cardiac myocytes with or without T4. This study has demonstrated that cultured myocytes contain a small population of muscle cells which is not responsive to thyroid hormone or to the lack of it.

Fiber types and myosin types in human atrial and ventricular myocardium. An anatomical description

Hybridomas were prepared from mice immunized with myosin from the enlarged left ventricle of a 53-year-old female with an obstructive cardiomyopathy. The specificity of 15 monoclonal antibodies to myosin heavy chains was assessed by the reactivity of muscle extracts and of chymotryptic myosin fragments of different sizes with these antibodies, as determined by the immune replicate technique; some of the monoclonal antibodies cross-reacted only with the ventricular V3-type myosin from hypothyroid rats, whereas the other antibodies cross-reacted both with the latter and with the ventricular V1-type myosins from normal young rats. Immunological heterogeneity of the fibers from human atrial muscles and from human ventricular muscles was detected by some of the antimyosin antibodies by means of indirect immunofluorescence. Histochemical fiber heterogeneity was also detected by adenosine triphosphatase staining of the same tissues. Because of the close correspondence observed between the immunological and histochemical responses of atrial fibers, it has been postulated that at least two distinct types of myosin exist in the human atrium, each myosin form being histochemically related to either alpha- or beta-like ventricular myosin heavy chains. In contrast, there was no direct correspondence between the two experimental approaches in human ventricles, and it is postulated that at least three distinct types of myosin exist within the human ventricles, one V1-type myosin, presumably corresponding to the very rare fibers with an alkaline-stable adenosine triphosphatase activity, and two other V3-type myosins corresponding to immunologically different fibers, each having an alkaline-labile adenosine triphosphatase activity. Monoclonal antibodies that can distinguish among the different myosin variants were further used to provide the basis for an anatomical description of fiber types and myosin types within the human atrial and ventricular myocardium in the whole hearts of two young boys who died sudden violent deaths. Small zones of myosin variation were seen to be scattered, but probably not randomly distributed, within large areas of myocardium in which the cellular distribution of myosin was constant; the large areas had one myosin distribution specific for each cardiac cavity. No clear-cut conclusions can yet be made concerning the physiological role of the regional variations observed in the distribution of the different molecular forms of myosin.

Expression of myosin isoenzymes in cardiac-muscle cells in culture

Myosin isoenzyme profiles of rat and chicken embryonic cardiac myocytes were studied during differentiation and growth in vitro by native-gel electrophoresis and assay of Ca2+-activated ATPase. The electrophoretic pattern of myosin extracted from 18-day-embryonic-rat myocytes after 7 days in culture exhibits three isoenzyme bands, V1, V2 and V3, of which the slow-migrating V3 is predominant. This resembles the isoenzyme profiles from 18-20-day-embryonic ventricles in vivo. However, the isoenzyme profile of the 7-day-old culture differs from that of its counterpart in vivo, as well as from that of the young and adult rat ventricles, the last two containing the predominant fast-migrating component, V1. When embryonic cardiac myocytes were grown in vitro for 7 days in a medium containing a physiological concentration of L-thyroxine (T4), myosin isoenzyme profiles of these cells shifted to the adult form, with isoenzyme V1 predominating after day 4 of culture. The 7-day-old intact embryonic-chicken ventricles and isolated myocytes showed a single myosin isoenzyme band after 7 days of culture that resembles the pattern seen for the adult chicken. T4 had no effect on the electrophoretic mobility of this isoenzyme pattern. ATPase activity of isoenzyme V1 in cultured rat myocytes treated with T4 was comparable with that of V1 in the untreated adult heart. This study demonstrates that ATPase activity of the chicken myosin isoenzyme is significantly lower than that of isoenzyme V1, but is comparable with that of rat V3. This study shows that the expression of myosin isoenzyme profiles in cultured rat cardiac myocytes does not fully represent the situation in vivo. Physiological concentrations of T4 can modulate the predominant foetal-type isoenzyme V3 to the adult type V1 in cultured embryonic-rat cardiac myocytes within a brief period.

Atrial and ventricular myosin during development and senescence of the rat

Myosin was isolated from rat atrial and ventricular myocardium and examined during post-natal development and senescence. The post-natal increase of Ca2+-ATPase activity of myosin from rat atria did not run in parallel with changes of ATPase activity of myosin from the ventricles. Ca2+-ATPase of both atrial and ventricular myosin was activated at pH 9.5, when compared with the assay performed at pH 7.5. The myosin light-chain subunits in the ventricles were different from the light-chain subunits in the atria, when characterized by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the pattern remained practically unchanged during development, with the exception of atrial myosin from new-born and very old rats which contained an additional protein of low molecular weight.

Effects of aging on atrial and ventricular human myosin

Enzymatic and structural studies of human cardiac myosin from young and old subjects have been investigated to determine possible changes in myosin properties in aging hearts. Human ventricular myosin from old subjects (47-70 years old) has lower actin-activated ATPase activity than and increased alkaline sensitivity as compared to myosin from young subjects (1-132 months old). Ca2+-and K+(EDTA)-ATPase activities, pyrophosphate gel patterns and one-dimensional peptide mapping of heavy chains of ventricular myosin from old subjects are similar to those observed for myosin from young subjects. Atrial myosin from human hearts differs significantly from ventricular myosin in that the Ca2+-, Mg2+- and actin-activated myosin Mg2+-ATPase activities of atrial myosin are significantly higher than those of ventricular myosin. Pyrophosphate gel electrophoresis patterns and peptide mapping of heavy chains of atrial myosin are also different from those of ventricular myosin. Unlike ventricular myosin, atrial myosin from young hearts is similar to that of atrial myosin from old hearts in its enzymatic and structural properties.

Structural differences between atrial and ventricular myosins from normal human hearts

Comparisons were made between myosins isolated from the right and left ventricles and the atria of normal human hearts. Parameters examined included electrophoretic mobilities of native molecules, K+ and Ca2+ dependent enzymatic activities, light chain composition, peptide patterns from partial proteolytic digests of entire heavy chains or rods, and maps of complete digests of specific 21 and 25 kilodalton heavy chain fragments. Human ventricular and atrial myosins differ in all parameters except in the charge of molecules. Structural differences between cardiac myosins derived from the two sources were apparent in both the head and tail portions of the heavy chains. With respect to the above parameters no differences were found between myosins from left and right human ventricles.

Distribution of myosin isozymes within single cardiac cells. An immunohistochemical study

Isozymes of myosin have been localized with respect to individual cardiac myocytes in hearts from 3-week-old, adult controls, and adult hypophysectomized rats, and in cultured cardiac cells. For this purpose, affinity-purified antibodies reacting specifically with the heavy chains of each of the two major myosin isozymes of adult rat heart, V1 and V3, were used. The distribution of the two isomyosins was determined by double immuno-labeling of the same cell, V1 myosins being revealed by rhodamine and V3 myosins by fluorescein. A procedure is described which allows optimum immunological visualization of the myosin filaments of rod-shaped isolated myocytes. It was found that the response of the cardiac cells to the two antimyosins varied depending on the state of the animal. In 3-week-old rats, all cells were stained with the anti-V1, and almost none with the anti-V3 myosin. In the hypophysectomized animals, on the contrary, all cells were stained with the anti-V3 and none with the anti-V1. A mixed pattern of reactivity was observed in adult controls since 50% of the cells reacted with the anti-V1, 10% with the anti-V3, and 40% with both antibodies. In the latter case, the distributions of V1 and V3 reactivities were homogeneous throughout the cell, and absolutely superimposable. The same double reactivity and homogeneous repartition were observed in cultured cells. These findings indicate that myocytes from adult rat myocardium are heterogeneous in terms of their isomyosins content and show for the first time that two isomyosins can coexist and be equally distributed in one cardiac cell. These observations are relevant to the regulation of individual heart cell contractility.

Transitions in human atrial and ventricular myosin light-chain isoenzymes in response to cardiac-pressure-overload-induced hypertrophy

1. The light-chain subunits of human atrial and ventricular cardiac muscle were examined by two-dimensional polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and limited proteolytic digestion. The light-chain patterns in the normal right and left atria were identical. 2. Myosin preparations isolated from right or left atria that had been subjected to cardiac-pressure-overload-induced hypertrophy also contained ventricular light-chain subunits. These were identified by peptide mapping in sodium dodecyl sulphate. 3. Ventricular light chain-2 was the major species in hypertrophied atria, although light chain-1 subsequently appeared in severe pressure-overload-hypertrophied cases. Evidence is presented for the existence of more than one form of ventricular light chain-2. 4. The transition from atrial to ventricular myosin light chains correlated with the degree of pressure-overload hypertrophy in 83 examples of surgically excised atria. 5. The adult atrial light chain-1 was shown to be homologous to the human foetal ventricular light chain-1 [Price, Littler & Cummins (1980) Biochem. J. 191, 571-580] by peptide mapping. 6. A scheme of atrial/ventricular myosin light-chain isoenzyme transitions is discussed in relation to changing contractile properties in cardiac muscle, together with implications for the role of light-chain subunits.

Myosin isoenzyme changes in several models of rat cardiac hypertrophy

We studied the effect of chronic mechanical overloading on the isoenzyme composition of rat cardiac myosin in several experimental models: aortic stenosis (AS), aortic incompetence (AI), aortocaval fistula (ACF), overload of the non-infarcted area after left coronary ligation (INF), and overload of the spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Samples of the left and right ventricles were isolated from these hearts, and myosins were analyzed by electrophoresis in non-dissociating conditions. The myosin isoenzymes were called V1, V2, and V3 in order of decreasing mobility, according to the nomenclature of Hoh et al. Controls of the Wistar and Wistar Kyoto (WKY) strains were almost exclusively V1, A slow age-dependent shift toward V3 was observed in the left ventricles of adult Wistar rats, which at 30 weeks of age (body weight 600 g) contained approximately 15% of this form. In all models of cardiac hypertrophy, an isoenzymic redistribution was observed with a significant increase in V3. The level of V3 was statistically correlated with the degree of hypertrophy in the AS, (n = 11, r - 0.6, P less than 0.05), the AI (n = 14, 4 = 0.88, P less than 0.001), and the AS + AI(n = 14, 4 = 0.69, P less than 0.01) but not in the ACF (n = 16, r = 0.46). The isoenzymic changes could account for the decreases in both myosin ATPase activity and cardiac contractility described previously in our laboratory and by others. They also demonstrate that changes in myosin isoenzymes represent a general response of the rat heart, to chronic mechanical overloading.