Sarcalumenin plays a critical role in age-related cardiac dysfunction due to decreases in SERCA2a expression and activity

Impaired Ca2+ reuptake into the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) underlies a primary pathogenesis of heart failure in the aging heart. Sarcalumenin (SAR), a Ca2+-binding glycoprotein located in the longitudinal SR, regulates Ca2+ reuptake by interacting with SR Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA). Here we found that the expression levels of both SAR and SERCA2 proteins were significantly downregulated in senescent wild-type mice (18-month old) and that downregulation of SAR protein preceded downregulation of SERCA2 protein. The downregulation of SERCA2 protein was greater in senescent SARKO mice than in age-matched senescent wild-type mice, which was at least in part due to progressive degradation of SERCA2 protein in SARKO mice. Senescent SARKO mice exhibited typical findings of heart failure such as increased sympathetic activity, impaired exercise tolerance, and upregulation of biomarkers of cardiac stress. Consequently, cardiac function was progressively decreased in senescent SARKO. We also found that the expression levels of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related genes such as x-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) were significantly increased in senescent SARKO mice, indicating that senescent SARKO mice exhibited ER stress. Thus we uncovered the important role of SAR in maintaining Ca2+ transport activity of SERCA2a and cardiac function in the senescent population.