Enhanced phosphorylation of myocardial sarcoplasmic reticulum in experimental hyperthyroidism

Calcium transport by cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) was compared in hyperthyroid (HT) and euthyroid (ET) rats. Both Ca2+ uptake (97 +/- 3.1 nmol/mg per min in HT vs. 63 +/- 2.9 nmol/mg per min in ET, P less than 0.01) and CA2+ -stimulated ATPase activity (61 +/- 4.1 vs. 37 +/- 1.6 nmol Pi/mg per min, P less than 0.01) were higher in the thyroxine-treated animals. These changes were accompanied by enhanced cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation of cardiac SR in hyperthyroid rats (180 +/- 4.3 pmol Pi/mg per min vs. 117 +/- 4.2 pmol Pi/mg per min, P less than 0.01). SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of cardiac SR showed that phosphorylation of a 22,000-dalton protein (phospholamban) primarily accounted for the differences between the two groups. There was no difference in the rate of SR dephosphorylation by endogenous phosphoprotein phosphatase between HT and ET rats. Differences in cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation between the two groups were blunted in the presence of excess exogenous cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. These results suggest that increased levels or activity of endogenous cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases may partially explain enhanced calcium transport by the cardiac SR of hyperthyroid animals.