FICD deficiency protects mice from hypertrophy-induced heart failure via BiP-mediated activation of the UPRER and ER-phagy

Cardiomyocytes require the HSP70 chaperone BiP to maintain proteostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) following cardiac stress. The adenylyl transferase (AMPylase) FICD is increasingly recognized to regulate BiP activity through the post-translational addition of an adenosine monophosphate moiety to BiP surface residues. However, the physiological impact of FICD-mediated BiP regulation in the context of cardiovascular health is unknown. Here, we find that FICD deficiency prevents pressure overload-associated heart failure, hypertrophy, and fibrosis, and that FICD knockout mice maintain normal cardiac function after cardiac pressure overload. At a cellular level, we observe that FICD-mediated BiP AMPylation blunts the induction of the unfolded protein response (UPRER) and impairs BiP interaction with FAM134B, an ER-phagy receptor, thus limiting ER-phagy induction under stress. In contrast, FICD loss significantly increases BiP-dependent UPRER induction and ER-phagy in stressed cardiomyocytes. We also uncover cell type-specific consequences of FICD activity in response to ER stress, positioning FICD as a critical proteostasis regulator in cardiac tissue. Our results highlight a novel regulatory paradigm controlling stress resilience in cardiomyocytes and offer a rationale to consider FICD as a therapeutic target to treat cardiac hypertrophy.