Whereas activation of ATP-dependent potassium (K(ATP)) channels greatly improves postischemic myocardial recovery, the final effector mechanism for K(ATP) channel-induced cardioprotection remains elusive. RhoA is a GTPase that regulates a variety of cellular processes known to be involved with K(ATP) channel cardioprotection. Our goal was to determine whether the activity of a key rhoA effector...

Cardioplegia is used to partially alleviate the effects of surgically induced global ischemia injury; however, the molecular mechanisms involved in this cardioprotection remain to be elucidated. To improve the understanding of the molecular processes modulating the effects of global ischemia and the cardioprotection afforded by cardioplegia, we constructed rabbit heart cDNA libraries and isolat...

An essential role for protein kinase C e (PKCe) has been shown in multiple forms of cardioprotection; however, there is a distinct paucity of information concerning the signaling architecture that is responsible for the manifestation of a protective phenotype. We and others have recently shown that signal transduction may proceed via the formation of signaling complexes (Circ Res. 2001;88:59–62...

Based on growing evidence linking autophagy to preconditioning, we tested the hypothesis that autophagy is necessary for cardioprotection conferred by ischemic preconditioning (IPC). We induced IPC with three cycles of 5 min regional ischemia alternating with 5 min reperfusion and assessed the induction of autophagy in mCherry-LC3 transgenic mice by imaging of fluorescent autophagosomes in cryo...

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) activation is key for ischemic postconditioning (IPo) to attenuate myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI), but IPo loses cardioprotection in diabetes in which cardiac STAT3 activation is impaired and adiponectin (APN) reduced. We found that IPo increased postischemic cardiomyocyte-derived APN, activated mitochondrial STAT3 (mitoS...

OBJECTIVE Ischemic preconditioning confers cardioprotection in early and delayed phases. We investigated the delayed window of pharmacological and ischemic preconditioning in human myocardium, and the involvement of mitoKATP, PKC and p38MAPK. METHODS These studies were carried out using human right atrial tissue in a cell necrosis model. The tissue was obtained from patients undergoing corona...

Previous studies have indicated that PKC-epsilon is a central regulator of protective signal transduction in the heart. However, the signaling modules through which PKC-epsilon exerts its protective effects have only begun to be understood. We have identified a novel participant in the PKC-epsilon signaling system in cardioprotection, the nonreceptor tyrosine kinase Bmx. Functional proteomic an...

The anesthetic propofol confers cardioprotection against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) by reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, its cardioprotection on patients is inconsistent. Similarly, the beneficial effect of tight glycemic control during cardiac surgery in patients has recently been questioned. We postulated that low glucose (LG) may promote ROS formation through...

Langendorff-perfused rat hearts treated with EPO exhibited significantly improved postischemic recovery of left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) and reduced infarct size compared with control hearts. Perfusion with the mitogen/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK) inhibitor U0126 just before and concomitant with EPO treatment abolished EPO-induced phosphorylation of the MEK substrate...

To determine whether opioid receptors (ORs) are involved in the delayed cardioprotection of ischemic preconditioning (IP), the effect of severe metabolic inhibition (MI) with a glucose-free buffer that contained sodium cyanide and 2-deoxy-D-glucose on the viability of isolated rat ventricular myocytes was first determined 20 hours after preconditioning with a sublethal metabolic inhibition (MIP...