Induction of SENP1 in myocardium contributes to abnormities of mitochondria and cardiomyopathy.

Defect in mitochondrial biogenesis and cardiac energy metabolism is a critical contributing factor to cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. Sentrin/SUMO specific protease 1 (SENP1) mediated regulation of PGC-1α transcriptional activity plays an essential role in mitochondrial biogenesis and mitochondrial function. However, whether SENP1 plays a role in cardiac hypertrophy and failure is unknown. We investigated whether alteration in SENP1 expression affects cardiomyopathy and the underlying mechanism. In our present study, we found that the expression of SENP1 was induced in mouse and human failing hearts associated with induced expression of mitochondrial genes. SENP1 expression in cardiomyocytes was induced by hypertrophic stimuli through calcium/calcineurin-NFAT3. SENP1 regulated mitochondrial gene expression by de-SUMOylation of MEF-2C, which enhanced MEF-2C-mediated PGC-1α transcription. Genetic induction of SENP1 led to mitochondrial dysregulation and cardiac dysfunction in vivo. Our data showed that pathogenesis of cardiomyopathy is attributed by SENP1 mediated regulation of mitochondrial abnormities. SENP1 up-regulation in diseased heart is mediated via calcineurin-NFAT/MEF2C-PGC-1α pathway.