title: New perspectives on the role of SERCA2's Ca2+ affinity in cardiac function.
abstract: Cardiomyocyte relaxation and contraction are tightly controlled by the activity of the cardiac sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ transport ATPase (SERCA2a). The SR Ca2+ -uptake activity not only determines the speed of Ca(2+) removal during relaxation, but also the SR Ca2+ content and therefore the amount of Ca2+ released for cardiomyocyte contraction. The Ca2+ affinity is the major determinant of the pump's activity in the physiological Ca2+ concentration range. In the heart, the affinity of the pump for Ca2+ needs to be controlled between narrow borders, since an imbalanced affinity may evoke hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Several small proteins (phospholamban, sarcolipin) adjust the Ca2+ affinity of the pump to the physiological needs of the cardiomyocyte. It is generally accepted that a chronically reduced Ca2+ affinity of the pump contributes to depressed SR Ca2+ handling in heart failure. Moreover, a persistently lower Ca2+ affinity is sufficient to impair cardiomyocyte SR Ca2+ handling and contractility inducing dilated cardiomyopathy in mice and humans. Conversely, the expression of SERCA2a, a pump with a lower Ca2+ affinity than the housekeeping isoform SERCA2b, is crucial to maintain normal cardiac function and growth. Novel findings demonstrated that a chronically increased Ca2+ affinity also may trigger cardiac hypertrophy in mice and humans. In addition, recent studies suggest that some models of heart failure are marked by a higher affinity of the pump for Ca2+, and hence by improved cardiomyocyte relaxation and contraction. Depressed cardiomyocyte SR Ca2+ uptake activity may therefore not be a universal hallmark of heart failure.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Physiology, University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, bus 802, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. peter.vangheluwe@med.kuleuven.be
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vangheluwe
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Sipido
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Raeymaekers
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wuytack
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002303:Cardiac Output, Low / Q000201:enzymology; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000201:enzymology*; D011510:Proteolipids / Q000378:metabolism; D053498:Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium-Transporting ATPases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000099211:Phospholamban
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D011510:Proteolipids; D053498:Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium-Transporting ATPases; D000099211:Phospholamban; C077258:sarcolipin