|
|
||||||||
1 Charles A. Dana Research Institute and Harvard-Thorndike Laboratories, Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215; and 2 Departments of Physiology and Medicine, University of California School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095
Enhanced gene expression of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger in failing hearts may be a compensatory mechanism to promote influx and efflux of Ca2+, despite impairment of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). To explore this, we monitored intracellular calcium (Cai2+) and cardiac function in mouse hearts engineered to overexpress the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger and subjected to ischemia and hypoxia, conditions known to impair SR Cai2+ transport and contractility. Although baseline Cai2+ and function were similar between transgenic and wild-type hearts, significant differences were observed during ischemia and hypoxia. During early ischemia, Cai2+ was preserved in transgenic hearts but significantly altered in wild-type hearts. Transgenic hearts maintained 40% of pressure-generating capacity during early ischemia, whereas wild-type hearts maintained only 25% (P < 0.01). During hypoxia, neither peak nor diastolic Cai2+ decreased in transgenic hearts. In contrast, both peak and diastolic Cai2+ decreased significantly in wild-type hearts. The decline of Cai2+ was abbreviated in hypoxic transgenic hearts but prolonged in wild-type hearts. Peak systolic pressure decreased by nearly 10% in hypoxic transgenic hearts and >25% in wild-type hearts (P < 0.001). These data demonstrate that enhanced gene expression of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger preserves Cai2+ homeostasis during ischemia and hypoxia, thereby preserving cardiac function in the acutely failing heart.
ischemia; hypoxia; sodium; calcium; heart failure; excitation-contraction
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
B. N. Eigel, H. Gursahani, and R. W. Hadley Na+/Ca2+ exchanger plays a key role in inducing apoptosis after hypoxia in cultured guinea pig ventricular myocytes Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, October 1, 2004; 287(4): H1466 - H1475. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J.-Y. Min, M. F. Sullivan, X. Yan, X. Feng, V. Chu, J.-F. Wang, I. Amende, J. P. Morgan, K. D. Philipson, and T. G. Hampton Overexpression of Na+/Ca2+ exchanger gene attenuates postinfarction myocardial dysfunction Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, December 1, 2002; 283(6): H2466 - H2471. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Z. Wang, B. Nolan, W. Kutschke, and J. A. Hill Na+-Ca2+ Exchanger Remodeling in Pressure Overload Cardiac Hypertrophy J. Biol. Chem., May 18, 2001; 276(21): 17706 - 17711. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Visit Other APS Journals Online |