Cardiomyocyte contractile impairment in heart failure results from reduced BAG3-mediated sarcomeric protein turnover

The association between reduced myofilament force-generating capacity (F-max) and heart failure (HF) is clear, however the underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we show impaired F-max arises from reduced BAG3-mediated sarcomere turnover. Myofilament BAG3 expression decreases in human HF and positively correlates with F-max. We confirm this relationship using BAG3 haploinsufficient mice, which display reduced F-max and increased myofilament ubiquitination, suggesting impaired protein turnover. We show cardiac BAG3 operates via chaperone-assisted selective autophagy (CASA), conserved from skeletal muscle, and confirm sarcomeric CASA complex localization is BAG3/proteotoxic stress-dependent. Using mass spectrometry, we characterize the myofilament CASA interactome in the human heart and identify eight clients of BAG3-mediated turnover. To determine if increasing BAG3 expression in HF can restore sarcomere proteostasis/F-max, HF mice were treated with rAAV9-BAG3. Gene therapy fully rescued F-max and CASA protein turnover after four weeks. Our findings indicate BAG3-mediated sarcomere turnover is fundamental for myofilament functional maintenance. Decreased expression of BAG3 in the heart is associated with contractile dysfunction and heart failure. Here the authors show that this is due to decreased BAG3-dependent sarcomere protein turnover, which impairs mechanical function, and that sarcomere force-generating capacity is restored with BAG3 gene therapy.