Overexpression of calreticulin sensitizes SERCA2a to oxidative stress

Calreticulin (CRT), a Ca(2+)-binding molecular chaperone in the endoplasmic reticulum, plays a vital role in cardiac physiology and pathology. Oxidative stress is a main cause of myocardiac disorder in the ischemic heart, but the function of CRT under oxidative stress is not fully understood. In this study, the effect of overexpression of CRT on sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA) 2a under oxidative stress was examined using myocardiac H9c2 cells transfected with the CRT gene. The in vitro activity of SERCA2a and uptake of (45)Ca(2+) into isolated microsomes were suppressed by H(2)O(2) in CRT-overexpressing cells compared with controls. Moreover, SERCA2a protein was degraded via a proteasome-dependent pathway following the formation of a complex with CRT under the stress with H(2)O(2). Thus, we conclude that overexpression of CRT enhances the inactivation and degradation of SERCA2a in the cells under oxidative stress, suggesting some pathophysiological functions of CRT in Ca(2+) homeostasis of myocardiac disease.