Heart Failure-Inducible Gene Therapy Targeting Protein Phosphatase 1 Prevents Progressive Left Ventricular Remodeling

Background The targeting of Ca2+ cycling has emerged as a potential therapy for the treatment of severe heart failure. These approaches include gene therapy directed at overexpressing sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ ATPase, or ablation of phospholamban (PLN) and associated protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) protein complexes. We previously reported that PP1β, one of the PP1 catalytic subunits, predominantly suppresses Ca2+ uptake in the SR among the three PP1 isoforms, thereby contributing to Ca2+ downregulation in failing hearts. In the present study, we investigated whether heart-failure-inducible PP1β-inhibition by adeno-associated viral-9 (AAV9) vector mediated gene therapy is beneficial for preventing disease progression in genetic cardiomyopathic mice.