Regulation of mitochondrial calcium uniporter expression and calciumdependent cell signaling by lncRNA Tug1 in cardiomyocytes

Abstract

Cardiomyocyte calcium homeostasis is a tightly regulated process. The mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) complex can buffer elevated cytosolic Ca2+levels and consists of pore-forming proteins including MCU, and various regulatory proteins such as mitochondrial calcium uptake proteins 1 and 2 (MICU1/2). The stoichiometry of these proteins influences the sensitivity to Ca2+and the activity of the complex. However, the factors that regulate their gene expression remain incompletely understood. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate gene expression through various mechanisms, and we recently found that the lncRNA Tug1 increased the expression of Mcu and associated genes. To further explore th..