The novel chromogranin A-derived serpinin and pyroglutaminated serpinin peptides are positive cardiac β-adrenergic-like inotropes

Three forms of serpinin peptides, serpinin (Ala26Leu), pyroglutaminated (pGlu)-serpinin (pGlu23Leu), and serpinin-Arg-Arg-Gly (Ala29Gly), are derived from cleavage at pairs of basic residues in the highly conserved C terminus of chromogranin A (CgA). Serpinin induces PN-1 expression in neuroendocrine cells to up-regulate granule biogenesis via a cAMP-protein kinase A-Sp1 pathway, while pGlu-serpinin inhibits cell death. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that serpinin peptides are produced in the heart and act as novel beta-adrenergic-like cardiac modulators. We detected serpinin peptides in the rat heart by HPLC and ELISA methods. The peptides included predominantly Ala29Gly and pGlu-serpinin and a small amount of serpinin. Using the Langendorff perfused rat heart to evaluate the hemodynamic changes, we found that serpinin and pGlu-serpinin exert dose-dependent positive inotropic and lusitropic effects at 11-165 nM, within the first 5 min after administration. The pGlu-serpinin-induced contractility is more potent than that of serpinin, starting from 1 nM. Using the isolated rat papillary muscle preparation to measure contractility in terms of tension development and muscle length, we further corroborated the pGlu-serpinin-induced positive inotropism. Ala29Gly was unable to affect myocardial performance. Both pGlu-serpinin and serpinin act through a beta 1-adrenergic receptor/adenylate cyclase/cAMP/PKA pathway, indicating that, contrary to the beta-blocking profile of the other CgA-derived cardiosuppressive peptides, vasostatin-1 and catestatin, these two C-terminal peptides act as beta-adrenergic-like agonists. In cardiac tissue extracts, pGlu-serpinin increased intracellular cAMP levels and phosphorylation of phospholamban (PLN) Ser16, ERK1/2, and GSK-3 beta. Serpinin and pGlu-serpinin peptides emerge as novel beta-adrenergic inotropic and lusitropic modulators, suggesting that CgA and the other derived cardioactive peptides can play a key role in how the myocardium orchestrates its complex response to sympathochromaffin stimulation.-Tota, B., Gentile, S., Pasqua, T., Bassino, E., Koshimizu, H., Cawley, N. X., Cerra, M. C., Loh, Y. P., Angelone, T. The novel chromogranin A-derived serpinin and pyroglutaminated serpinin peptides are positive cardiac beta-adrenergic-like inotropes. FASEB J. 26, 2888-2898 (2012). www.fasebj.org