Creatine kinase is the main target of reactive oxygen species in cardiac myofibrils.

Abstract Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been reported to alter cardiac myofibrillar function as well as myofibrillar enzymes such as myosin ATPase and creatine kinase (CK). To understand their precise mode and site of action in myofibrils, the effects of the xanthine/xanthine oxidase (X/XO) system or of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) have been studied in the presence and in the absence of phosphocreatine (PCr) in Triton X-100–treated cardiac fibers. We found that xanthine oxidase (XO), with or without xanthine, induced a decrease in maximal Ca 2+ -activated tension. We attributed this effect to the high contaminating proteolytic activity in commercial XO preparations, since it could be p…