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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Investigating the Pathogenesis of MYH7 Mutation Gly823Glu in Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy using a Mouse Model
Published on: August 8, 2022
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy mutations in MYBPC3 dysregulate myosin
Christopher N Toepfer1,2,3, Hiroko Wakimoto4,5, Amanda C Garfinkel4
1Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. christopher_toepfer@hms.harvard.edu cseidman@genetics.med.harvard.edu.
Insights
Loss of cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyBPC) increases heart muscle contractility. Inhibiting myosin function or ATPase activity may treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) caused by MYBPC3 mutations.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Molecular Cardiology
- Genetic Heart Disease
Background:
- Truncating mutations in MYBPC3 and myosin missense mutations are linked to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
- The precise mechanisms driving hypercontractility and impaired relaxation in HCM due to these mutations remain unclear.
- Cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyBPC) plays a crucial role in sarcomere function, but its precise contribution to HCM pathophysiology is not fully elucidated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the depletion of cMyBPC affects sarcomere function and myosin dynamics.
- To explore the relationship between cMyBPC levels, myosin contractility, and relaxation in the context of HCM.
- To evaluate potential therapeutic strategies targeting myosin function for HCM treatment.
Main Methods:
- Genetic manipulation to deplete cMyBPC in cardiomyocytes.
- Biochemical assays to assess myosin function and contractility.
- Utilized a specific myosin missense variant (F764L) associated with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).
- Employed MYK-461, a pharmacologic inhibitor of myosin ATPase, in cellular and animal models.
Main Results:
- Stepwise reduction of cMyBPC led to increased myosin contractility.
- Attenuating myosin function with the F764L variant normalized hypercontractility caused by cMyBPC depletion.
- cMyBPC depletion altered myosin's dynamic conformations, favoring ATP hydrolysis and reducing energy-conserving states.
- MYK-461 treatment rescued relaxation deficits and normalized contractility in cardiomyocytes with MYBPC3 mutations.
Conclusions:
- cMyBPC exhibits dosage-dependent effects on myosin function throughout the cardiac cycle.
- These findings elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms by which MYBPC3 truncations contribute to HCM.
- Therapeutic strategies aimed at modulating myosin activity, such as using MYK-461, show promise for treating HCM associated with MYBPC3 mutations.
Abstract:
The mechanisms by which truncating mutations in MYBPC3 (encoding cardiac myosin-binding protein C; cMyBPC) or myosin missense mutations cause hypercontractility and poor relaxation in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) are incompletely understood. Using genetic and biochemical approaches, we explored how depletion of cMyBPC altered sarcomere function. We demonstrated that stepwise loss of cMyBPC resulted in reciprocal augmentation of myosin contractility. Direct attenuation of myosin function, via a damaging missense variant (F764L) that causes dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), normalized the increased contractility from cMyBPC depletion. Depletion of cMyBPC also altered dynamic myosin conformations during relaxation, enhancing the myosin state that enables ATP hydrolysis and thin filament interactions while reducing the super relaxed conformation associated with energy conservation. MYK-461, a pharmacologic inhibitor of myosin ATPase, rescued relaxation deficits and restored normal contractility in mouse and human cardiomyocytes with MYBPC3 mutations. These data define dosage-dependent effects of cMyBPC on myosin that occur across the cardiac cycle as the pathophysiologic mechanisms by which MYBPC3 truncations cause HCM. Therapeutic strategies to attenuate cMyBPC activity may rescue depressed cardiac contractility in patients with DCM, whereas inhibiting myosin by MYK-461 should benefit the substantial proportion of patients with HCM with MYBPC3 mutations.
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