N-terminal fragment of cardiac myosin binding protein-C triggers pro-inflammatory responses in vitro.

Myocardial infarction (MI) leads to loss and degradation of contractile cardiac tissue followed by sterile inflammation of the myocardium through activation and recruitment of innate and adaptive cells of the immune system. Recently, it was shown that cardiac myosin binding protein-C (cMyBP-C), a protein of the cardiac sarcomere, is degraded following MI, releasing a predominant N-terminal 40-kDa fragment (C0C1f) into myocardial tissue and the systemic circulation. We hypothesized that early release of C0C1f contributes to the initiation of inflammation and plays a key role in recruitment and activation of immune cells.