Autophagy and p62 in Cardiac Proteinopathy

Rationale—Recent studies suggest an important role of autophagy in protection against αB-crystallin-based (CryABR120G) desmin-related cardiomyopathies (DRC) but this has not been demonstrated in a different model of cardiac proteinopathy. Mechanisms underlying the response of cardiomyocytes to proteotoxic stress remain incompletely understood. Objective—First, to determine whether and how the autophagic activity is changed in a mouse model of desminopathy; second, to investigate the role of p62 in the protein quality control of cardiomyocytes. Methods and Results—Using an autophagosome reporter and determining changes in LC3-II protein levels in response to lysosomal inhibition, we found significantly increased autophagic flux in mouse hearts with transgenic overexpression of a DRC-linked mutant desmin. Similarly, autophagic flux was increased in cultured neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs) expressing a mutant desmin. Suppression of autophagy by 3-methyladenine increased, whereas enhancement of autophagy by rapamycin reduced, the ability of a comparable level of mutant desmin overexpression to accumulate ubiquitinated proteins in NRVMs. Furthermore, p62 mRNA an