Myocardial infarction (MI) is associated with depressed cardiac contractile function and progression to heart failure. Cardiac myosin-binding protein C, a cardiac-specific myofilament protein, is proteolyzed post-MI in humans, which results in an N-terminal fragment, C0-C1f. The presence of C0-C1f in cultured cardiomyocytes results in decreased Ca(2+) transients and cell shortening, abnormalities sufficient for the induction of heart failure in a mouse model. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigate the association between C0-C1f and altered contractility in human cardiac myofilaments in vitro. To accomplish this, we generated recombinant human C0-C1f (hC0C1f) and incorporated it into permeabilized human left ventricular myocardium. Mechanical properties were studied at short (2 μm) and long (2.3 μm) sarcomere length (SL). Our data demonstrate that the presence of hC0C1f in the sarcomere had the greatest effect at short, but not long, SL, decreasing maximal force and myofilament Ca(2+) sensitivity. Moreover, hC0C1f led to increased cooperative activation, cross-bridge cycling kinetics, and tension cost, with greater effects at short SL. We further established that the effects of hC0C1f occur through direct interaction with actin and α-tropomyosin. Our data demonstrate that the presence of hC0C1f in the sarcomere is sufficient to induce depressed myofilament function and Ca(2+) sensitivity in otherwise healthy human donor myocardium. Decreased cardiac function post-MI may result, in part, from the ability of hC0C1f to bind actin and α-tropomyosin, suggesting that cleaved C0-C1f could act as a poison polypeptide and disrupt the interaction of native cardiac myosin-binding protein C with the thin filament.
Keywords: Contractile Protein; Heart Failure; Myocardial Infarction; Protein Degradation; Protein-Protein Interactions.