Facilitation of murine cardiac L-type Cav1.2 channel is modulated by Calmodulin kinase II-dependent phosphorylation of S1512 and S1570

Activity-dependent means of altering calcium (Ca²⁺) influx are assumed to be of great physiological consequence, although definitive tests of this assumption have only begun to emerge. Facilitation and inactivation offer two opposing, activity-dependent means of altering Ca²⁺ influx via cardiac Cav1.2 calcium channels. Voltage- and frequency-dependent facilitation of Cav1.2 has been reported to depend on Calmodulin (CaM) and/or the activity of Calmodulin kinase II (CaMKII). Several sites within the cardiac L-type calcium channel complex have been proposed as the targets of CaMKII. Here, we generated mice with knockin mutations of α₁1.2 S1512 and S1570 phosphorylation sites [sine facilitation (SF) mice]. Homocygote SF mice were viable and reproduced in a Mendelian ratio. Voltage-dependent facilitation in ventricular cardiomyocytes carrying the SF mutation was decreased from 1.58- to 1.18-fold. The CaMKII inhibitor KN-93 reduced facilitation to 1.28 in control cardiomyocytes. SF mutation negatively shifted the voltage-dependent inactivation and slowed recovery from inactivation, thereby making fewer channels available for activation. Telemetric ECG recordings at different heart rates showed that QT time decreased significantly more in SF than in control mice at higher rates. Our results strongly support the notion that CaMKII-dependent phosphorylation of Cav1.2 at S1512 and S1570 mediates Ca²⁺ current facilitation in the murine heart.