Inhibition of CaMKII Does Not Attenuate Cardiac Hypertrophy in Mice with Dysfunctional Ryanodine Receptor

In cardiac muscle, the release of calcium ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum through ryanodine receptor ion channels (RyR2s) leads to muscle contraction. RyR2 is negatively regulated by calmodulin (CaM) and by phosphorylation of Ca2+/CaM-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). Substitution of three amino acid residues in the CaM binding domain of RyR2 (RyR2-W3587A/L3591D/F3603A, RyR2ADA) impairs inhibition of RyR2 by CaM and results in cardiac hypertrophy and early death of mice carrying the RyR2ADA mutation. To test the cellular function of CaMKII in cardiac hypertrophy, mutant mice were crossed with mice expressing the CaMKII inhibitory AC3-I peptide or the control AC3-C peptide in the myocardium. Inhibition of CaMKII by AC3-I modestly reduced CaMKII-dependent phosphorylation of RyR2 at Ser-2815 and markedly reduced CaMKII-dependent phosphorylation of SERCA2a regulatory subunit phospholamban at Thr-17. However the average life span and heart-to-body weight ratio of Ryr2ADA/ADA mice expressing the inhibitory peptide were not altered compared to control mice. In Ryr2ADA/ADA homozygous mice, AC3-I did not alter cardiac morphology, enhance cardiac function, improve sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ handling, or suppress the expression of genes implicated in cardiac remodeling. The results suggest that CaMKII was not required for the rapid development of cardiac hypertrophy in Ryr2ADA/ADA mice.