scholarly journals Biophysical properties of human β-cardiac myosin with converter mutations that cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masataka Kawana ◽  
Saswata S Sarkar ◽  
Shirley Sutton ◽  
Kathleen M Ruppel ◽  
James Spudich

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) affects 1 in 500 individuals and is an important cause of arrhythmias and heart failure. Clinically, HCM is characterized as causing hyper-contractility, and therapies are aimed toward controlling the hyperactive physiology. β-cardiac myosin comprises ~40 percent of genetic mutations associated with HCM and the converter domain of myosin is a hot spot for HCM-causing mutations, but the underlying primary effects of these mutations on myosin's biomechanical function remain elusive. We hypothesize that these mutations affect the biomechanical properties of myosin, such as increasing its intrinsic force and/or its duty ratio and therefore the ensemble force of the sarcomere. Using recombinant human β-cardiac myosin, we characterize the molecular effects of three severe HCM-causing converter domain mutations R719W, R723G and G741R. Contrary to our hypothesis, the intrinsic forces of R719W and R723G mutant myosins are decreased compared to wild type, and unchanged for G741R. Actin and regulated thin filament gliding velocities are ~15 percent faster for R719W and R723G myosin, while there is no change in velocity for G741R. ATPase activities and the load-dependent velocity change profiles of all three mutant proteins are very similar to wild type. These results indicate that the net biomechanical properties of human β-cardiac myosin carrying these converter domain mutations are very similar to wild type or even slightly hypo-contractile, leading us to consider an alternative mechanism for the clinically observed hyper-contractility. Future work includes how these mutations affect protein interactions within the sarcomere that increase the availability of myosin heads participating in force production.

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
pp. e1500511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suman Nag ◽  
Ruth F. Sommese ◽  
Zoltan Ujfalusi ◽  
Ariana Combs ◽  
Stephen Langer ◽  
...  

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most frequently occurring inherited cardiovascular disease. It is caused by mutations in genes encoding the force-generating machinery of the cardiac sarcomere, including human β-cardiac myosin. We present a detailed characterization of the most debated HCM-causing mutation in human β-cardiac myosin, R403Q. Despite numerous studies, most performed with nonhuman or noncardiac myosin, there is no consensus about the mechanism of action of this mutation on the function of the enzyme. We use recombinant human β-cardiac myosin and new methodologies to characterize in vitro contractility parameters of the R403Q myosin compared to wild type. We extend our studies beyond pure actin filaments to include the interaction of myosin with regulated actin filaments containing tropomyosin and troponin. We find that, with pure actin, the intrinsic force generated by R403Q is ~15% lower than that generated by wild type. The unloaded velocity is, however, ~10% higher for R403Q myosin, resulting in a load-dependent velocity curve that has the characteristics of lower contractility at higher external loads compared to wild type. With regulated actin filaments, there is no increase in the unloaded velocity and the contractility of the R403Q myosin is lower than that of wild type at all loads. Unlike that with pure actin, the actin-activated adenosine triphosphatase activity for R403Q myosin with Ca2+-regulated actin filaments is ~30% lower than that for wild type, predicting a lower unloaded duty ratio of the motor. Overall, the contractility parameters studied fit with a loss of human β-cardiac myosin contractility as a result of the R403Q mutation.


1997 ◽  
Vol 137 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. David Becker ◽  
Kim R. Gottshall ◽  
Reed Hickey ◽  
Jean-Claude Perriard ◽  
Kenneth R. Chien

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a human heart disease characterized by increased ventricular mass, focal areas of fibrosis, myocyte, and myofibrillar disorganization. This genetically dominant disease can be caused by mutations in any one of several contractile proteins, including β cardiac myosin heavy chain (βMHC). To determine whether point mutations in human βMHC have direct effects on interfering with filament assembly and sarcomeric structure, full-length wild-type and mutant human βMHC cDNAs were cloned and expressed in primary cultures of neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (NRC) under conditions that promote myofibrillogenesis. A lysine to arginine change at amino acid 184 in the consensus ATP binding sequence of human βMHC resulted in abnormal subcellular localization and disrupted both thick and thin filament structure in transfected NRC. Diffuse βMHC K184R protein appeared to colocalize with actin throughout the myocyte, suggesting a tight interaction of these two proteins. Human βMHC with S472V mutation assembled normally into thick filaments and did not affect sarcomeric structure. Two mutant myosins previously described as causing human hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, R249Q and R403Q, were competent to assemble into thick filaments producing myofibrils with well defined I bands, A bands, and H zones. Coexpression and detection of wild-type βMHC and either R249Q or R403Q proteins in the same myocyte showed these proteins are equally able to assemble into the sarcomere and provided no discernible differences in subcellular localization. Thus, human βMHC R249Q and R403Q mutant proteins were readily incorporated into NRC sarcomeres and did not disrupt myofilament formation. This study indicates that the phenotype of myofibrillar disarray seen in HCM patients which harbor either of these two mutations may not be directly due to the failure of the mutant myosin heavy chain protein to assemble and form normal sarcomeres, but may rather be a secondary effect possibly resulting from the chronic stress of decreased βMHC function.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Supplement_6) ◽  
pp. vi124-vi124
Author(s):  
Insa Prilop ◽  
Thomas Pinzer ◽  
Daniel Cahill ◽  
Priscilla Brastianos ◽  
Gabriele Schackert ◽  
...  

Abstract OBJECTIVE Multiple meningiomas (MM) are rare and present a unique management challenge. While the mutational landscape of single meningiomas has been extensively studied, understanding the molecular pathogenesis of sporadic MM remains incomplete. The objective of this study is to elucidate the genetic features of sporadic MM. METHODS We identified nine patients with MM (n=19) defined as ≥2 spatially separated synchronous or metachronous meningiomas. We profiled genetic changes in these tumors using next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay that covers a large number of targetable and frequently mutated genes in meningiomas including AKT1, KLF4, NF2, PIK3CA/PIK3R1, POLR2A, SMARCB1, SMO, SUFU, TRAF7, and the TERT promoter. RESULTS Most of MM were WHO grade 1 (n= 16, 84.2%). Within individual patients, no driver mutation was shared between separate tumors. All but two cases harbored different hot spot mutations in known meningioma-driver genes like TRAF7 (n= 5), PIK3CA (n= 4), AKT1 (n= 3), POLR2A (n=1) and SMO (n= 1). Moreover, individual tumors differed in histologic subtype in 8/9 patients. The low frequency of NF2 mutations in our series stands in contrast to previous studies that included hereditary cases arising in the setting of neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). CONCLUSIONS Our findings provide evidence for genomic inter-tumor heterogeneity and an independent molecular origin of sporadic NF2 wild-type MM. Furthermore, these findings suggest that genetic characterization of each lesion is warranted in sporadic MM.


2018 ◽  
Vol 475 (24) ◽  
pp. 3933-3948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahar I. Da'as ◽  
Khalid Fakhro ◽  
Angelos Thanassoulas ◽  
Navaneethakrishnan Krishnamoorthy ◽  
Alaaeldin Saleh ◽  
...  

The most common inherited cardiac disorder, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), is characterized by thickening of heart muscle, for which genetic mutations in cardiac myosin-binding protein C3 (c-MYBPC3) gene, is the leading cause. Notably, patients with HCM display a heterogeneous clinical presentation, onset and prognosis. Thus, delineating the molecular mechanisms that explain how disparate c-MYBPC3 variants lead to HCM is essential for correlating the impact of specific genotypes on clinical severity. Herein, five c-MYBPC3 missense variants clinically associated with HCM were investigated; namely V1 (R177H), V2 (A216T), V3 (E258K), V4 (E441K) and double mutation V5 (V3 + V4), all located within the C1 and C2 domains of MyBP-C, a region known to interact with sarcomeric protein, actin. Injection of the variant complementary RNAs in zebrafish embryos was observed to recapitulate phenotypic aspects of HCM in patients. Interestingly, V3- and V5-cRNA injection produced the most severe zebrafish cardiac phenotype, exhibiting increased diastolic/systolic myocardial thickness and significantly reduced heart rate compared with control zebrafish. Molecular analysis of recombinant C0–C2 protein fragments revealed that c-MYBPC3 variants alter the C0–C2 domain secondary structure, thermodynamic stability and importantly, result in a reduced binding affinity to cardiac actin. V5 (double mutant), displayed the greatest protein instability with concomitant loss of actin-binding function. Our study provides specific mechanistic insight into how c-MYBPC3 pathogenic variants alter both functional and structural characteristics of C0–C2 domains leading to impaired actin interaction and reduced contractility, which may provide a basis for elucidating the disease mechanism in HCM patients with c-MYBPC3 mutations.


1996 ◽  
Vol 132 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
E F Smith ◽  
P A Lefebvre

Several studies have indicated that the central pair of microtubules and their associated structures play a significant role in regulating flagellar motility. To begin a molecular analysis of these components we have generated central apparatus-defective mutants in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using insertional mutagenesis. One paralyzed mutant recovered in our screen, D2, is an allele of a previously identified mutant, pf16. Mutant cells have paralyzed flagella, and the C1 microtubule of the central apparatus is missing in isolated axonemes. We have cloned the wild-type PF16 gene and confirmed its identity by rescuing pf16 mutants upon transformation. The rescued pf16 cells were wild-type in motility and in axonemal ultrastructure. A full-length cDNA clone for PF16 was obtained and sequenced. Database searches using the predicted 566 amino acid sequence of PF16 indicate that the protein contains eight contiguous armadillo repeats. A number of proteins with diverse cellular functions also contain armadillo repeats including pendulin, Rch1, importin, SRP-1, and armadillo. An antibody was raised against a fusion protein expressed from the cloned cDNA. Immunofluorescence labeling of wild-type flagella indicates that the PF16 protein is localized along the length of the flagella while immunogold labeling further localizes the PF16 protein to a single microtubule of the central pair. Based on the localization results and the presence of the armadillo repeats in this protein, we suggest that the PF16 gene product is involved in protein-protein interactions important for C1 central microtubule stability and flagellar motility.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 1805-1812 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Zhu ◽  
R H Schiestl

Chromosome aberrations may cause cancer and many heritable diseases. Topoisomerase I has been suspected of causing chromosome aberrations by mediating illegitimate recombination. The effects of deletion and of overexpression of the topoisomerase I gene on illegitimate recombination in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been studied. Yeast transformations were carried out with DNA fragments that did not have any homology to the genomic DNA. The frequency of illegitimate integration was 6- to 12-fold increased in a strain overexpressing topoisomerase I compared with that in isogenic control strains. Hot spot sequences [(G/C)(A/T)T] for illegitimate integration target sites accounted for the majority of the additional events after overexpression of topoisomerase I. These hot spot sequences correspond to sequences previously identified in vitro as topoisomerase I preferred cleavage sequences in other organisms. Furthermore, such hot spot sequences were found in 44% of the integration events present in the TOP1 wild-type strain and at a significantly lower frequency in the top1delta strain. Our results provide in vivo evidence that a general eukaryotic topoisomerase I enzyme nicks DNA and ligates nonhomologous ends, leading to illegitimate recombination.


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