Unchanged myosin kinase activity in hypertrophied rat heart

The decrease in myosin ATPase activity observed in cardiac hypertrophy induced by cardiac overload has been related to an isoenzymic redistribution of myosin. To test the hypothesis of an additional regulation of myosin ATPase through light chain phosphorylation, we measured the myosin kinase activity together in sham-operated and 50% to 100% hypertrophied rat hearts. The myosin kinase were purified approximately 600 fold with 6% yield by ion exchange chromatography and calmodulin-affinity chromatography. The presence of very important levels of proteolytic activity in the rat heart resulted in a partial loss of the myosin kinase calmodulin-dependency. The major component from both myosin kinase purified fractions was a 63 kdaltons protein. The protein content was identical in myosin kinase purified fractions from sham-operated and hypertrophied hearts. The calmodulin-dependent activity of myosin kinase, assayed in the presence of 0.1 mM Ca2+ and 10(-6) M calmodulin (about 6.6 nmol P X min-1 X mg-1), was identical in sham-operated and 50% to 100% hypertrophied hearts. Thus, myosin kinase specific activity, in these conditions, was unchanged in rat heart chronic hypertrophy. This result suggests that no direct functional relationship exists between the enzymatic properties of myosin and myosin kinase during the chronic phase of cardiac hypertrophy.