Cardiac Myosin-binding protein C and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

The cardiac myosin-binding protein C (MyBP-C) is a sarcomeric protein belonging to the intracellular immunoglobulin superfamily; it has both structural and regulatory roles. The gene-encoding cardiac MyBP-C in humans is located on chromosome 11p11.2, comprises over 21,000 base pairs, and contains 35 exons. Mutations have been identified in this gene in unrelated families with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by ventricular hypertrophy associated with a large degree of myocardial and myofibrillar disarray. Most mutations found in the cardiac MyBP-C gene thus far are predicted to lead to an altered mRNA sequence and to produce the C-terminal truncation of the cardiac MyBP-C polypeptides lacking the myosin-binding site and also, in some cases, the titin-binding site. One might reasonably assume that the cardiac MyBP-C mutations exert their effect by altering the multimeric complex assembly of the cardiac sarcomere via the "null allele" mechanism, potentially leading to haploinsufficiency, and/or via a dominant negative effect of a misfolded RNA on the cardiac MyBP-C translation, which could interfere with the proper assembly of sarcomeric structures. These data underline the functional importance of MyBP-C in the regulation of cardiac work and provide the basis for further studies and for the production of transgenic animals for cardiac MyBP-C that will, one hopes, help to resolve the pathogenesis of chromosome-11-associated familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.