The denitrosylase SCoR2 controls cardioprotective metabolic reprogramming

Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and therapeutic options remain limited. Endogenously generated nitric oxide (NO) is highly cardioprotective, but protection is not replicated by nitroso-vasodilators (e.g., nitrates, nitroprusside) used in clinical practice, highlighting specificity in NO-based signaling and untapped therapeutic potential. Signaling by NO is mediated largely by -nitrosylation, entailing specific enzymes that form and degrade -nitrosothiols in proteins (SNO-proteins), termed nitrosylases and denitrosylases, respectively. SNO-CoA Reductase 2 (SCoR2; product of the gene) is a recently discovered protein denitrosylase. Genetic variants in SCoR2 have been associated with cardiovascular disease, but its function is unknown. Here, we show that mice lacking SCoR2/AKR1A1 exhibit robust protection in an animal model of MI. SCoR2 regulates ketolytic energy availability, antioxidant levels, and polyol homeostasis via -nitrosylation of key metabolic effectors. Human cardiomyopathy shows reduced SCoR2 expression and an -nitrosylation signature of metabolic reprogramming, mirroring SCoR2 mice. Deletion of SCoR2 thus coordinately reprograms multiple metabolic pathways—ketone body utilization, glycolysis, pentose phosphate shunt, and polyol metabolism—to limit infarct size, establishing SCoR2 as a novel regulator in the injured myocardium and a potential drug target.

Duke Scholars

Author Walter J. Koch Surgery, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery