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Research: BALDERAS-VILLALOBOS and COLLEAGUES,
Listed in Issue 244
Abstract
BALDERAS-VILLALOBOS and COLLEAGUES, (1)Departamento de Farmacobiología, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados-Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico tested in rats the hypothesis that decreased cardiac sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca(2+) ATPase (SERCA2a) activity may be mediated by elevated oxidative stress produced in the metabolic syndrome (MetS) heart.
Background
Ca(+) mishandling due to impaired activity of cardiac sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca(2+) ATPase (SERCA2a) has been associated with the development of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in insulin-resistant cardiomyopathy. However, the molecular causes underlying SERCA2a alterations induced by insulin resistance and related metabolic disorders, such as metabolic syndrome (MetS), are not completely understood.
Methodology
In this study, we used a sucrose-fed rat model of MetS to test the hypothesis that decreased SERCA2a activity is mediated by elevated oxidative stress produced in the MetS heart. Production of ROS and cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration were recorded in left ventricular myocytes using confocal imaging. The level of SERCA2a oxidation was determined in left ventricular homogenates by biotinylated iodoacetamide labelling.
Results
Compared with control rats, sucrose-fed rats exhibited several characteristics of MetS, including central obesity, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, and hypertriglyceridemia. Moreover, relative to myocytes from control rats, myocytes from MetS rats exhibited elevated basal production of ROS accompanied by slowed cytosolic Ca(2+) removal, reflected by prolonged Ca(2+) transients. The slowed cytosolic Ca(2+) removal was associated with a significant decrease in SERCA2a-mediated Ca(2+) reuptake and increased SERCA2a oxidation. Importantly, myocytes from MetS rats treated with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine showed normal ROS levels and SERCA2a-mediated Ca(2+) reuptake as well as accelerated cytosolic Ca(2+) removal.
Conclusion
These data suggest that elevated oxidative stress may induce oxidative modifications on SERCA2a leading to abnormal function of this protein in the MetS heart.
References
Balderas-Villalobos J(1), Molina-Muñoz T, Mailloux-Salinas P, Bravo G, Carvajal K, Gómez-Viquez NL. Oxidative stress in cardiomyocytes contributes to decreased SERCA2a activity in rats with metabolic syndrome. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 305(9):H1344-53. Nov 1 2013. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00211.2013. Epub Aug 302013.