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Published 5 July 2005. doi:10.1083/jcb.200412156
The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525 $8.00
JCB, Volume 170, Number 1, 37-47
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Article

 Calreticulin signals upstream of calcineurin and MEF2C in a critical Ca2+-dependent signaling cascade

Jeffrey Lynch1, Lei Guo3, Pascal Gelebart1, Kaari Chilibeck1, Jian Xu4, Jeffery D. Molkentin4, Luis B. Agellon1,2, and Marek Michalak1

1 Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H7
2 Canadian Institutes of Health Research Group in the Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H7
3 Hepatic Toxicology, National Center for Toxicological Research, Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079
4 Children's Hospital Medical Center, Molecular Cardiovascular Biology, Cincinnati, OH 45229

Correspondence to Marek Michalak: marek.michalak{at}ualberta.ca

We uncovered a new pathway of interplay between calreticulin and myocyte-enhancer factor (MEF) 2C, a cardiac-specific transcription factor. We establish that calreticulin works upstream of calcineurin and MEF2C in a Ca2+-dependent signal transduction cascade that links the endoplasmic reticulum and the nucleus during cardiac development. In the absence of calreticulin, translocation of MEF2C to the nucleus is compromised. This defect is reversed by calreticulin itself or by a constitutively active form of calcineurin. Furthermore, we show that expression of the calreticulin gene itself is regulated by MEF2C in vitro and in vivo and that, in turn, increased expression of calreticulin affects MEF2C transcriptional activity. The present findings provide a clear molecular explanation for the embryonic lethality observed in calreticulin-deficient mice and emphasize the importance of calreticulin in the early stages of cardiac development. Our study illustrates the existence of a positive feedback mechanism that ensures an adequate supply of releasable Ca2+ is maintained within the cell for activation of calcineurin and, subsequently, for proper functioning of MEF2C.

Abbreviations used in this paper: CaMK, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase; CaN, calcineurin; CRT, calreticulin; CsA, cyclosporin A; E, embryonic day; EMSA, electrophoretic mobility shift assay; HDAC, histone deacetylase; InsP3, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate; MEF; myocyte-enhancer factor; NF-AT, nuclear factor of activated T-cells; NRS, nuclear retention signal.


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