Abstract 12041: Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Leads to Sodium Channel Dysfunction in the Heart

Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) are used by tens of thousands of patients and are efficacious for treating renal cell carcinoma . However, TKIs have been reported to have numerous off-target effects, including arrhythmias and heart failure. Many patients who receive TKIs are over 60 years of age and have existing cardiac diseases, thus increasing their risk of cardiotoxicity. However, the exact mechanism to how these TKIs cause cardiotoxicity remains unclear. Our research goal is to understand how TKIs lead to cardiotoxicity by learning what proteins are being targeted and what are potential upstream regulators so we can introduce possible treatments that can combat these effects. Recent literature has stated that the TKI Sorafenib led to increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and Calcium (Ca 2+ )/Calmodulin dependent kinase II (CaMKII) activity in rat ventricular cardiomyocytes. ROS can activate CaMKII, and increased CaMKII activity can lead to hyperphosphorylation of the voltage-gated sodium channel, leading to pathophysiological enhancement of late sodium current (I Na,L ). Increased activity of CaMKII and I Na,L can be seen in arrhythmias and heart failure. We hypothesize that TKIs lead to an increase enhancement of I Na,L due to an increase in ROS production and increased CaMKII activity. To test this hypothesis, we treated H9c2 myoblasts with Pazopanib (n=3) or DMSO (n=3) and wild-type mice with Pazopanib (n=5) or DMSO (n=5). After treatment, we assessed cytosolic and mitochondrial ROS production in vitro and functional affects, CaMKII activity, and I Na,L current in vivo . Results showed that Pazopanib led to a significant increase in ROS production in H9c2 cells and more arrhythmogenic events in WT mice. While CaMKII activity or I Na,L expression was not significantly changed between the two groups, with electrophysiology studies Pazopanib did lead to alterations in amplitude, peak current, ultra-slow inactivation, and recovery. In conclusion, Pazopanib leads to cardiovascular dysfunction and this could be due to an increase in ROS production and altered sodium channels. Our study indicates a potential mechanism as to how TKI treatment leads to cardiotoxicity in patients.