Differential expression of antiviral factors in H9c2 cells overexpressing Cacnb4 of the Cav1.2 channel

L-type voltage gated Ca channels play a critical role in E-C coupling in cardiac muscle. alpha1C is associated with beta auxiliary subunits (b1-b4), which regulate cardiac Ca channel gating properties. Here we report a preliminary exploratory study suggesting a novel role of beta4 subunit in heart. We observed that overexpression of beta4 subunit increases the expression of a wide variety of endogenous genes related to antiviral activity. This includes genes in the downstream signalling of RIG-1 pathway such as RIG-1, Irf7 and Ifitm3. The increase expression of these factors may have an antiviral protective role against infection.L型电压门控钙通道（L-type voltage gated Ca channels）在心肌兴奋-收缩耦联（E-C coupling）中发挥关键作用。α1C亚基（alpha1C）可与β辅助亚基（beta auxiliary subunits）结合，后者能够调控心肌钙通道的门控特性。本研究报告一项初步探索性研究，结果提示β4亚基在心脏中具有全新功能。我们观察到，β4亚基过表达可上调多种与抗病毒活性相关的内源基因的表达，其中包括视黄酸诱导基因蛋白1（RIG-1）通路下游信号相关基因，如RIG-1、干扰素调节因子7（Irf7）以及干扰素诱导跨膜蛋白3（Ifitm3）。上述因子的表达上调可能对感染发挥抗病毒保护作用。