Translational Medical Research Commons^™

Pepducin-Mediated Cardioprotection Via Β-Arrestin-Biased Β2-Adrenergic Receptor-Specific Signaling, Laurel A. Grisanti, Toby P. Thomas, Rhonda L. Carter, Claudio De Lucia, Erhe Gao, Walter J. Koch, Jeffrey L. Benovic, Douglas G. Tilley

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Reperfusion as a therapeutic intervention for acute myocardial infarction-induced cardiac injury itself induces further cardiomyocyte death. β-arrestin (βarr)-biased β-adrenergic receptor (βAR) activation promotes survival signaling responses in vitro; thus, we hypothesize that this pathway can mitigate cardiomyocyte death at the time of reperfusion to better preserve function. However, a lack of efficacious βarr-biased orthosteric small molecules has prevented investigation into whether this pathway relays protection against ischemic injury in vivo. We recently demonstrated that the pepducin ICL1-9, a small lipidated peptide fragment designed from the first intracellular loop of β2AR, allosterically engaged pro-survival signaling cascades in a βarr-dependent manner in …