Fu MH, Tupling AR. Protective effects of Hsp70 on the structure and function of SERCA2a expressed in HEK-293 cells during heat stress. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 296: H1175-H1183, 2009. First published February 27, 2009 doi:10.1152/ajpheart.01276.2008.-Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) can physically interact with and prevent thermal inactivation of sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca 2ϩ -ATPase (SERCA) 1a, the SERCA isoform expressed in adult fasttwitch skeletal muscle. This study examined whether Hsp70 could physically interact with and prevent thermal inactivation of SERCA2a, the SERCA isoform expressed in heart. HEK-293 cells were cotransfected with cDNAs encoding human Hsp70 and rabbit SERCA2a (S2a/Hsp70). Cells cotransfected with SERCA2a cDNA and pMT2 (S2a/pMT2) were used as control. One-half of the cells was heat shocked at 40°C for 1 h (HS), and one-half was maintained at 37°C before harvesting the cells and isolating microsomes. Western blot analysis showed that Hsp70 and SERCA2a were colocalized in the microsomal fraction. The levels of Hsp70 were approximately fivefold higher (P Ͻ 0.05) in S2a/Hsp70 compared with S2a/pMT2 and approximately twofold higher (P Ͻ 0.05) following HS in all cells. Coimmunoprecipitation demonstrated that Hsp70 directly binds to SERCA2a. Following HS, maximal SERCA2a activity was reduced (ϳ52%, P Ͻ 0.05) in S2a/pMT2 but was increased (ϳ33%, P Ͻ 0.05) in S2a/Hsp70. Thermal inactivation of SERCA2a in S2a/pMT2 was associated with decreased (ϳ49%, P Ͻ 0.05) binding capacity for fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and increased carbonyl (ϳ42%, P Ͻ 0.05) and nitrotyrosine (ϳ40%, P Ͻ 0.05) levels in SERCA2a. By contrast, the HS-induced increase in maximal SERCA2a activity observed in S2a/Hsp70 corresponded with no change (P Ͼ 0.05) in FITC-binding capacity and reductions in carbonyl (ϳ40%, P Ͻ 0.05) and nitrotyrosine (ϳ23%, P Ͻ 0.05) levels in SERCA2a compared with S2a/pMT2. These results show that Hsp70 forms a protective interaction with SERCA2a during HS actually reducing oxidation and nitrosylation of SERCA2a thus increasing its maximal activity. coimmunoprecipitatoin; carbonyl; nitrotyrosine; nucleotide binding site SARCO(ENDO)PLASMIC reticulum Ca 2ϩ -ATPases (SERCAs) are typical of the class of P-type ATPases that bind specific ions to be transported, hydrolyze ATP to form a phosphoprotein intermediate, and undergo conformational changes resulting in ion translocation (29). SERCA pumps are 110-kDa integral membrane proteins that consist of 10 transmembrane helexes (M1-M10), three cytoplasmic domains (A, actuator; N, nucleotide-binding; P, phosphorylation), and small luminal loops (48). In humans, 3 genes (ATP2A1-3) generate multiple isoforms (SERCAla,b, SERCA2a-c, SECA3a-f) by developmental or tissue-specific alternative splicing (14). Two SERCA isoforms predominate in adult striated muscle, namely SERCA1a and SERCA2a. The SERCA1a isoform consists of 994 amino acids and accounts for Ͼ99% of the SERCA isoforms expressed in adult fast-twitch skeletal muscle, whereas SERCA2a consists...