May the post-translational process of succination be involved in cardiac arrhythmia

The small ubiquitin-like modifier 1 (SUMO1) plays an important role in the regulation of the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca²+ ATPase 2a (SERCA2a), which is responsible of facilitating the reuptake of Ca²+ in the endoplasmic reticulum after cardiac contraction. Consequently, any modification in SUMO1 could lead to the modification in the activity and the stability of SERCA2a, hence in cardiotoxicity. In this light, a previous study conducted in our laboratory, demonstrated that SUMO1 could be a target of succination, an irreversible post translational modification resulting from the interaction of fumarate with reactive cysteine thiols. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate if succination, is responsible for modifying SUMO1’s function. Such modifications may, in turn, have downstream effects on the function of SERCA2a.