Monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies to the major sarcoplasmic reticulum proteins of rabbit skeletal and canine cardiac muscle have been used to identify and characterize the corresponding components of human cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum. The Ca2(+)-transporting ATPase of human cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum was identified as a 105,000-Da protein antigenically distinct from its rabbit skeletal muscle counterpart. Human cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum also contained 53,000- 155,000- and 165,000-Da glycoproteins antigenically related to the low and high molecular weight glycoproteins of canine cardiac and rabbit skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum. The ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+ channel of human cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum was identified as a 400,000-Da protein antigenically related to its counterparts in canine cardiac and rabbit skeletal muscle. Human cardiac calsequestrin was identified as a 52,000-Da protein. Human phospholamban was identified as a 29,000-Da substrate for phosphorylation by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Immunoblots of sarcoplasmic reticulum from the normal left ventricles of four unmatched organ donors and the excised failing left ventricles of nine patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy were compared in search of qualitative differences in the protein patterns of the failing hearts. No such differences were found with respect to the Ca2+ ATPase, the 53,000-Da glycoprotein, the ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+ channel, calsequestrin or phospholamban. In contrast, the 165,000-Da glycoprotein band, present in all four preparations from nonfailing hearts, was absent from three of nine preparations from failing hearts, and staining of the 155,000-Da glycoprotein in these three preparations appeared to be relatively increased. The absence of the 165,000-Da glycoprotein band may identify or reflect a pathogenetic mechanism in a subset of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.