Cardiac GRK2 Protein Levels Show Sexual Dimorphism during Aging and Are Regulated by Ovarian Hormones.

ABSTRACT: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk shows a clear sexual dimorphism with age, with a lower incidence in young women compared to age-matched men. However, this protection is lost after menopause. We demonstrate that sex-biased sensitivity to the development of CVD with age runs in parallel with changes in G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) protein levels in the murine heart and that mitochondrial fusion markers, related to mitochondrial functionality and cardiac health, inversely correlate with GRK2. Young female mice display lower amounts of cardiac GRK2 protein compared to age-matched males, whereas GRK2 is upregulated with age specifically in female hearts. Such an increase in GRK2 seems to be specific to the cardiac muscle since a different pattern is found in the skeletal muscles

SUBMITTER: Arcones AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8002941 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature