Extracellular ATP plays an important role in ischemic preconditioning (IPC) through the activation of P(2y) purinoceptors. This study examined whether ATP-stimulated P(2y) purinoceptors are coupled to pertussis toxin (PTX)-insensitive G protein and whether activation of this pathway enhances myocardial protection afforded by IPC. The rat was treated with PTX for 48 h, and the heart was then iso...

BACKGROUND Blockade of oxidative phosphorylation may activate ATP sensitive mitochondrial potassium (mitoK(ATP)) channels. We examined whether both metabolic inhibition and mitoK(ATP) channel openers protect both the whole organ and isolated cells from ischemia. METHODS AND RESULTS Using a Langendorff preparation, one group of isolated rabbit hearts were exposed to ischemic preconditioning (I...

PURPOSE To determine whether ischemic preconditioning (IPC) upregulates certain retinal survival factors and to assess the protective effect of retinal IPC against light-induced photoreceptor degeneration. METHODS Albino rats underwent IPC induced by raising the intraocular pressure in one eye to 120 mm Hg for 5 minutes. The fellow eye underwent sham treatment. Basic fibroblast growth factor ...

Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) is a potent renoprotective strategy which has not yet been translated successfully into clinical practice, in spite of promising results in animal studies. We performed a unique systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies to identify factors modifying IPC efficacy in renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI), in order to enhance the design of future (clini...

Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) of the heart is exerted by brief ischemic insults affected on a remote organ or a remote area of the heart before a sustained cardiac ischemia. To date, little is known about the inter-organ transfer mechanisms of cardioprotection by RIPC. Exosomes and microvesicles/microparticles are vesicles of 30-100 nm and 100-1000 nm in diameter, respectively (collect...

Reversible myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) or ischemic preconditioning (IPC) is associated with an immediate genomic response; IPC-induced immediate early genes are associated with reduced infarct size. Because the immediate early response gene X-1 (IEX-1) plays a central role in cell apoptosis, we examine whether IEX-1 exerts protective effects against I/R injury. We found that the IEX-1...

BACKGROUND Phosphorylation of sphingosine by sphingosine kinase (SK) is the rate-limiting step in the cellular synthesis of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P). The monoganglioside GM1, which stimulates SK, is cardioprotective in part through increased generation of S1P that protects myocytes by diverse mechanisms. Because protein kinase C (PKC)epsilon activation is necessary for myocardial ischemic ...

OBJECTIVES Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a leading cause of kidney transplantation failure, and ischemic-preconditioning (IPC) is a protective method against the IRI. In the present study, the defensive effect of IPC on rats' kidney was investigated and more importantly the differences between two genders were appraised. MATERIALS AND METHODS THIRTY TWO WISTAR RATS WERE RANDOMLY ALLOCA...

As a G protein-coupled receptor, the extracellular Ca(2+)-sensing receptor (CaSR) responds to changes not only in extracellular Ca(2+), but also to many other ligands. CaSR has been found to be expressed in the hearts and cardiovascular system. In this study, we confirmed that CaSR is expressed in mouse cardiomyocytes and showed that it is predominantly localized in caveolae. The goal of this s...