Atrial and ventricular myosins from human hearts. II. Isoenzyme distribution after myocardial infarction.

Human atrial and ventricular myosins were prepared from autopsy specimens from subjects with coronary heart disease. Cardiac myosin light chain isotypes were resolved using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, whereas myosin isozymes were detected by pyrophosphate gel electrophoresis. Myocardial infarction and associated work overload cause a transition in the light chain complements of the myosins. Thus ventricular myosin light chains were found in pressure overloaded atria and atrial light chains have also been identified in the infarct ventricle of the human heart. Two molecular isoenzymes of the human atrial myosin, the relative proportions of which are changed after infarction, were separated under non-dissociating conditions by gel electrophoresis. A decrease in HA-3 and a corresponding increase in HA-1 were observed. Ventricular hypertrophy in patients with coronary insufficiency induces a second ventricle isomyosin, called HV-1, with the same electrophoretic mobility as HA-1. The relative part of this myosin type amounts to 20%. Comparative peptide mapping studies were carried out on myosin subfragment-1 preparations from normal and infarct ventricles. In the primary structures, the chymotrypsic digestions produced slight differences. These data demonstrate the heterogeneity of human atrial and ventricular myosins in patients with coronary heart disease.