Novel and uncommon isoforms of the calcium sensing enzyme calcium/calmodulin dependent protein kinase II in heart tissue

Abstract

Calcium/calmodulindependent protein kinase type II (CaM kinase II) is an intracellular enzyme discovered several years ago in the brain which is obviously involved in intracellular signal transmission. Meanwhile it was detected in virtually every mammalian tissue. Several isoforms have been found to exist. Most recently the tissue distribution and the molecular structure of these isoforms have suggested that each form entails a particular function. In the present study we describe the identification, cloning, and nucleotide sequencing of two novel CaM kinase II isoforms which we discovered in rat heart. The presence of these additional subtypes makes the heart the organ which possesses the greatest number of different and unusual CaM kinase II isoforms throughout the body except for the brain. The importance of this finding is underscored by the fact that calcium is involved in the regulation of many crucial cardial parameters. The deduced amino acid sequence that we have obtained from the new CaM kinase II isoforms indicates a molecular organization which could make the design of subtype-specific inhibitory drugs for CaM kinase II possible. Such compounds would act similarly to but much more selectively than digitalis glycosides and would be likely to possess less side effects.