Work

Cardiovascular homeostasis dependence on MICU2, a regulatory subunit of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: Significance Hypertension increases the risk for development of abdominal aortic aneurysms, a silent pathology that is prone to rupture and cause sudden cardiac death. Male gender, smoking, and hypertension appear to increase risk for development of abdominal aortic aneurysms by provoking oxidative stress responses in cardiovascular tissues. Here we uncovered unexpected linkages between the calcium-sensing regulatory subunit MICU2 of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter and stress responses. We show that naive Micu2 −/− mice had abnormalities of cardiac relaxation but, with modest blood pressure elevation, developed abdominal aortic aneurysms with spontaneous rupture. These findings implicate mitochondrial calcium homeostasis as a critical pathway involved in protecting cardiovascular tissues from oxidative stress.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1711303114