The mitochondrial Na+-Ca2+ exchanger, NCLX, regulates automaticity of HL-1 cardiomyocytes

Mitochondrial Ca2+ is known to change dynamically, regulating mitochondrial as well as cellular functions such as energy metabolism and apoptosis. The NCLX gene encodes the mitochondrial Na+-Ca2+ exchanger (NCXmit), a Ca2+ extrusion system in mitochondria. Here we report that the NCLX regulates automaticity of the HL-1 cardiomyocytes. NCLX knockdown using siRNA resulted in the marked prolongation of the cycle length of spontaneous Ca2+ oscillation and action potential generation. The upstrokes of action potential and Ca2+ transient were markedly slower, and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ handling were compromised in the NCLX knockdown cells. Analyses using a mathematical model of HL-1 cardiomyocytes demonstrated that blocking NCXmit reduced the SR Ca2+ content to slow spontaneous SR Ca2+ leak, which is a trigger of automaticity. We propose that NCLX is a novel molecule to regulate automaticity of cardiomyocytes via modulating SR Ca2+ handling.