Role of CaMKII in cardiac arrhythmias

Protein phosphorylation is a central mechanism in vertebrates for the regulation of signaling. With regard to the cardiovascular system, phosphorylation of myocyte targets is critical for the regulation of excitation contraction coupling, metabolism, intracellular calcium regulation, mitochondrial activity, transcriptional regulation, and cytoskeletal dynamics. In fact, pathways that tune protein kinase signaling have been a mainstay for cardiovascular therapies for the past 60 years. The calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is a multifunctional serine/threonine kinase with numerous roles in human physiology. Dysfunction in CaMKII-based signaling has been linked with a host of cardiovascular phenotypes including heart failure and arrhythmia, and CaMKII levels are elevated in human and animal disease models of heart disease. While nearly a decade has been invested in targeting CaMKII for the treatment of heart failure and arrhythmia phenotypes, to date, approaches to target the molecule for antiarrhythmic benefit have been unsuccessful for reasons that are still not entirely clear, although (1) lack of compound specificity and (2) the multitude of downstream targets are likely contributing factors. This review will provide an update on current pathways regulated by CaMKII with the goal of illustrating potential upstream regulatory mechanisms and downstream targets that may be modulated for the prevention of cardiac electrical defects. While the review will cover multiple aspects of CaMKII dysfunction in cardiovascular disease, we have given special attention to the potential of CaMKII-associated late Na+ current as a novel therapeutic target for cardiac arrhythmia.