Myosin Light Chain Phosphorylation is Critical for Adaptation to Cardiac Stress Running title: Warren et al.; Role of cardiac MLCK in vivo

A cardiac myosin light chain kinase regulates sarcomere assembly in the vertebrate heart.

Marked sarcomere disorganization is a well-documented characteristic of cardiomyocytes in the failing human myocardium. Myosin regulatory light chain 2, ventricular/cardiac muscle isoform (MLC2v), which is involved in the development of human cardiomyopathy, is an important structural protein that affects physiologic cardiac sarcomere formation and heart development. Integrated cDNA expression ...

Identification of cardiac-specific myosin light chain kinase.

Two myosin light chain (MLC) kinase (MLCK) proteins, smooth muscle (encoded by mylk1 gene) and skeletal (encoded by mylk2 gene) MLCK, have been shown to be expressed in mammals. Even though phosphorylation of its putative substrate, MLC2, is recognized as a key regulator of cardiac contraction, a MLCK that is preferentially expressed in cardiac muscle has not yet been identified. In this study,...

Heart Failure Myosin Light Chain Phosphorylation Is Critical for Adaptation to Cardiac Stress

Myosin light chain phosphorylation is critical for adaptation to cardiac stress.

BACKGROUND Cardiac hypertrophy is a common response to circulatory or neurohumoral stressors as a mechanism to augment contractility. When the heart is under sustained stress, the hypertrophic response can evolve into decompensated heart failure, although the mechanism(s) underlying this transition remain largely unknown. Because phosphorylation of cardiac myosin light chain 2 (MLC2v), bound to...

Role of protein kinase C in the phosphorylation of cardiac myosin light chain 2.

The role of protein kinase C (PKC) in the phosphorylation of myosin light chain 2 (MLC2) in adult rat heart cells has been investigated. PKC-mediated phosphorylation of MLC2 in adult rat cardiac myofibrils in vitro occurs with a stoichiometry (0.7 mol of phosphate/mol of protein) similar to that mediated by myosin light chain kinase (MLCK). Two-dimensional tryptic phosphopeptide mapping of MLC2...