Emilio Y. Lucero, Haoran Jiang, Vincent M. D’Anniballe, Natalia Pakharukova, Daniella Galtes, Dana K. Bassford, Arun Jyothidasan, Kirk U. Knowlton, Michael D. Gunn, R J Lefkowitz, Howard A. Rockman
Viral myocarditis can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy in adults, yet the molecular mechanisms that induce cardiac inflammation in viral myocarditis remain unclear. β-Arrestins are scaffolding proteins that mediate intracellular signaling during viral infection. We demonstrated that cardiomyocyte β-arrestins are necessary for immune cell recruitment, induction of cardiac apoptosis, and cGAS-STING pathway activation during acute coxsackievirus B3 infection. Targeting β-arrestins appears to decrease the inflammatory response in acute viral myocarditis.