Human cardiac myosin light chain 4 (MYL4) mosaic expression patterns vary by sex

Sci Rep. 2019 Sep 3;9(1):12681. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-49191-0.

Abstract

Sex disparities modulate cardiac function, although the proteins and mechanisms remain to be elucidated. We recently demonstrated a mosaic pattern of protein expression in the heart for over 100 proteins. Here we investigate one of these proteins, myosin light chain 4 (MYL4), which is important for contractile functions by increasing force production. We assayed the expression pattern of MYL4 across 756 ventricular myocardial samples from 668 individuals utilizing a semi-automated Cell Profiler method on five tissue microarrays (TMAs) of cardiac tissues across a diverse set of diseases. The percentage of MYL4 positive cells was significantly higher in male subjects independently across all five TMAs, regardless of disease state (p = 8.66e-15). Higher MYL4 expression was also modestly associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (p = 6.3e-04). MYL4 expression did not associate with sudden cardiac death or other cardiomyopathies. This study demonstrates a new mosaic pattern of protein expression that underlies sex disparities in the human heart.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / metabolism
  • Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / pathology
  • Coronary Artery Disease / metabolism
  • Coronary Artery Disease / pathology
  • Death, Sudden, Cardiac / pathology
  • Female
  • Heart Ventricles / cytology
  • Heart Ventricles / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Linear Models
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Myocardium / metabolism*
  • Myocardium / pathology
  • Myosin Light Chains / genetics
  • Myosin Light Chains / metabolism*
  • Sex Factors
  • Tissue Array Analysis

Substances

  • MYL4 protein, human
  • Myosin Light Chains