Autoantibody against Cardiac β1‐Adrenoceptor Induces Apoptosis in Cultured Neonatal Rat Cardiomyocytes

To clarify whether apoptosis is involved in the injury processes induced by autoantibody against cardiac β1-adrenoceptor, we investigated the biological and apoptotic effects of antibodies on cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Wistar rats were immunized with peptides corresponding to the second extra- cellular loop of the β1-adrenoceptor to induce the production of anti-β1-adrenoceptor antibodies in the sera. Immunoglobulin (Ig) G in the sera was detected using synthetic antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and purified using the diethylaminoethyl cellulose ion exchange technique. Apoptosis of cardiomyo- cytes was evaluated using agarose gel electrophoresis and flow cytometry. Our results showed that the positive serum IgG greatly increased the beating rates of cardiomyocytes and showed an "agonist-like" activity. Furthermore, positive serum IgG induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis after treatment with β 1- adrenoceptor overstimulation for 48 h. The effects of monoclonal antibody against β1-adrenoceptor were also found to be similar to those of positive serum IgG. It was suggested that the autoantibody could induce cardiomyocyte apoptosis by excessive stimulation of β1-adrenoceptor.