Differential protein expression in heart in UT-B null mice with cardiac conduction defects

Cardiac conduction defects were found in transgenic mice deficient in urea transporter UT-B. To investigate the molecular mechanisms of the conduction defects caused by UT-B deletion, we studied the protein expression profiles of heart tissue (comprising most conduction system) in wild-type versus UT-B null mice at different ages. By two-dimensional electrophoresis-based comparative analysis, we found that more than dozen proteins were modulated (> two-fold) in the myocardium of UT-B null mice. Out of these modulated proteins, troponin T (TNNT2) presented significant changes in UT-B null mice at early stage prior to the development of P-R interval elongation, while the change of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) occurred only at late stage in UT-B null mice that had the AV block. These data indicate that UT-B deletion caused the dynamic expression regulation of TNNT2 and ANP, and these proteins may provide new clues to investigate the molecular events involved in cardiac conduction.