CaMKII-δ9 promotes cardiomyopathy through disrupting UBE2T-dependent DNA repair

Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) is a multifunctional serine/threonine kinase family, and its δ isoform is predominant in the heart. Excessive CaMKII activation plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of severe heart conditions, including myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy and heart failure. However, the identity of CaMKII splice variants and the mechanism(s) underlying CaMKII-mediated cardiac pathology remain elusive. Here, we show that CaMKII-δ9, the most abundant CaMKII-δ splice variant in human heart, potently promotes cardiomyocyte death, cardiomyopathy and heart failure by disrupting cardiomyocyte genome stability. Mechanistically, CaMKII-δ9, but not the previously well-studied CaMKII-δ2 and CaMKII-δ3, targets the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2T (UBE2T) for phosphorylation and degradation, disrupting UBE2T-dependent DNA repair and leading to the accumulation of DNA damage and genome instability. These findings not only reveal a crucial role of CaMKII in the regulation of DNA repair, but also mark the CaMKII-δ9–UBE2T–DNA damage pathway as an important therapeutic target for cardiomyopathy and heart failure.