UC Irvine

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. An estimated half of cases involve genetic predisposition. Sequence variants in human KCNE2, which encodes a cardiac and epithelial K(+) channel β subunit, cause inherited cardiac arrhythmias. Unexpectedly, human KCNE2 polymorphisms also associate with predisposition to atherosclerosis, with unestablished causality or mechanisms. Here, we report that germline Kcne2 deletion promotes atherosclerosis in mice, overcoming the relative resistance of this species to plaque deposition. In female western diet-fed mice, Kcne2 deletion increased plaque deposition >6-fold and also caused premature ventricular complexes and sudden death. The data establish causality for the first example of ion channel-linked atherosclerosis, and demonstrate that the severity of Kcne2-linked cardiac arrhythmias is strongly diet-dependent.