The Cardiac Acetyl-Lysine Proteome

In the heart, lysine acetylation has been implicated in processes ranging from transcriptional control of pathological remodeling, to cardioprotection arising from caloric restriction. Given the emerging importance of this post-translational modification, we used a proteomic approach to investigate the broader role of lysine acetylation in the heart using a guinea pig model. Briefly, hearts were fractionated into myofilament-, mitochondrial- and cytosol-enriched fractions prior to proteolysis and affinity-enrichment of acetylated peptides. LC-MS/MS analysis identified 1075 acetylated peptides, harboring 994 acetylation sites that map to 240 proteins with a global protein false discovery rate 2+-handling proteins, RyR2 and SERCA2, and the myofilament proteins, myosin heavy chain, myosin light chains and subunits of the Troponin complex, among others. These observations were confirmed by anti-acetyl-lysine immunoblotting. In summary, cardiac lysine acetylation may play a role in cardiac substrate selection, bioenergetic performance, and maintenance of redox balance. New sites suggest a host of potential mechanisms by which excitation-contraction coupling may also be modulated.