• Vilmante Borutaite, Ramune Morkuniene, Odeta Arandarcikaite, Aiste Jekabsone, Jurgita Barauskaite, and Guy C Brown.
• Institute for Biomedical Research, Kaunas University of Medicine, Kaunas, Lithuania. vilbor@vector.kmu.lt
• J. Biomed. Sci. 2009 Aug 11; 16: 70.

BackgroundHeart ischemia can rapidly induce apoptosis and mitochondrial dysfunction via mitochondrial permeability transition-induced cytochrome c release. We tested whether nitric oxide (NO) can block this damage in isolated rat heart, and, if so, by what mechanisms.MethodsHearts were perfused with 50 microM DETA/NO (NO donor), then subjected to 30 min stop-flow ischemia or ischemia/reperfusion. Isolated heart mitochondria were used to measure the rate of mitochondrial oxygen consumption and membrane potential using oxygen and tetraphenylphosphonium-selective electrodes. Mitochondrial and cytosolic cytochrome c levels were measured spectrophotometrically and by ELISA. The calcium retention capacity of isolated mitochondria was measured using the fluorescent dye Calcium Green-5N. Apoptosis and necrosis were evaluated by measuring the activity of caspase-3 in cytosolic extracts and the activity of lactate dehydrogenase in perfusate, respectively.Results30 min ischemia caused release of mitochondrial cytochrome c to the cytoplasm, inhibition of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, and stimulation of mitochondrial proton permeability. 3 min perfusion with 50 microM DETA/NO of hearts prior to ischemia decreased this mitochondrial damage. The DETA/NO-induced blockage of mitochondrial cytochrome c release was reversed by a protein kinase G (PKG) inhibitor KT5823, or soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitor ODQ or protein kinase C inhibitors (Ro 32-0432 and Ro 31-8220). Ischemia also stimulated caspase-3-like activity, and this was substantially reduced by pre-perfusion with DETA/NO. Reperfusion after 30 min of ischemia caused no further caspase activation, but was accompanied by necrosis, which was completely prevented by DETA/NO, and this protection was blocked by the PKG inhibitor. Incubation of isolated heart mitochondria with activated PKG blocked calcium-induced mitochondrial permeability transition and cytochrome c release. Perfusion of non-ischemic heart with DETA/NO also made the subsequently isolated mitochondria resistant to calcium-induced permeabilisation, and this protection was blocked by the PKG inhibitor.ConclusionThe results indicate that NO rapidly protects the ischemic heart from apoptosis and mitochondrial dysfunction via PKG-mediated blockage of mitochondrial permeability transition and cytochrome c release.

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