Mavacamten rescues increased myofilament calcium sensitivity and dysregulation of Ca2+ flux caused by thin filament hypertrophic cardiomyopathy mutations

Abstract

Thin filament hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) mutations increase myofilament Ca²⁺ sensitivity and alter Ca²⁺ handling and buffering. The myosin inhibitor mavacamten reverses the increased contractility caused by HCM thick filament mutations, and we here test its effect on HCM thin filament mutations where the mode of action is not known. Mavacamten (250 nM) partially reversed the increased Ca²⁺ sensitivity caused by HCM mutations Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) R92Q, and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) R145G in in vitro ATPase assays. The effect of mavacamten was also analyzed in cardiomyocyte models of cTnT R92Q and cTnI R145G containing cytoplasmic and myofilament specific Ca²⁺ sensors. While mavacamten rescued the hypercontracted basal sarcomere length, the reduced fractional shortening did not improve with mavacamten. Both mutations caused an increase in peak systolic Ca²⁺ detected at the myofilament, and this was completely rescued by 250 nM mavacamten. Systolic Ca²⁺ detected by the cytoplasmic sensor was also reduced by mavacamten treatment, although only R145G increased cytoplasmic Ca²⁺. There was also a reversal of Ca²⁺ decay time prolongation caused by both mutations at the myofilament but not in the cytoplasm. We thus show that mavacamten reverses some of the Ca²⁺-sensitive molecular and cellular changes caused by the HCM mutations, particularly altered Ca²⁺ flux at the myofilament. The reduction of peak systolic Ca²⁺ as a consequence of mavacamten treatment represents a novel mechanism by which the compound is able to reduce contractility, working synergistically with its direct effect on the myosin motor.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Mavacamten, a myosin inhibitor, is currently in phase-3 clinical trials as a pharmacotherapy for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Its efficacy in HCM caused by mutations in thin filament proteins is not known. We show in reductionist and cellular models that mavacamten can rescue the effects of thin filament mutations on calcium sensitivity and calcium handling although it only partially rescues the contractile cellular phenotype and, in some cases, exacerbates the effect of the mutation.

Keywords: calcium; cardiomyocyte; hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; mavacamten; mutation.