Presence of heat shock protein 72 in cardiomyocytes after heat stress.
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Publications and source records attributed to L H Snoeckx.
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HSP70 is known to protect cells against stressful events. In the present study, the hypothesis was investigated that elevated HSP70 levels protect RNA polymerase I during stress, leading to decreased inhibition of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) synthesis and accelerated recovery of protein translation after stress. To this end, transcriptional and translational activity was studied in H9c2 cells during recovery after a severe heat treatment (SHT, 1 h 45 degrees C) in the presence of elevated HSP70 levels. The latter was achieved by heat pretreatment or by adenovirus-mediated hsp70 gene transfer. Rates of transcription and translation were determined by measuring cellular 3H-labelled uridine and leucine incorporation, respectively. The two types of pretreatment did not affect basal rates of transcription and translation, immediately before SHT. During SHT, both transcriptional and translational rates dropped to less than 10% of basal levels in pretreated as well as non-pretreated cells. Two and four h after SHT, both transcriptional and translational rates were significantly higher in HSP70-overexpressing cells compared to non-pretreated cells. However, immediately after SHT, transcription rates were similarly depressed in non-pretreated and pretreated cells, showing that increased levels of HSP70 did not protect RNA polymerase I activity during SHT. Thus, the HSP70-mediated acceleration of translational recovery is not preceded in time by an enhanced recovery of rRNA synthesis. Therefore, the HSP70-mediated early recovery of protein synthesis after heat stress is independent of rRNA synthesis.
We investigated whether the cardioprotection induced by heat stress (HS) pretreatment is associated with mitigation of phospholipid degradation during the ischemic and/or postischemic period. The hearts, isolated from control rats and from heat-pretreated rats (42 degrees C for 15 min) either 30 min (HS0.5-h) or 24 h (HS24-h) earlier, were subjected to 45 min of no-flow ischemia, followed by 45 min of reperfusion. Unesterified arachidonic acid (AA) accumulation was taken as a measure for phospholipid degradation. Significantly improved postischemic ventricular functional recovery was only found in the HS24-h group. During ischemia, AA accumulated comparably in control and both HS groups. During reperfusion in control and HS0.5-h hearts, AA further accumulated (control hearts from 82 +/- 33 to 109 +/- 51 nmol/g dry wt, not significant; HS-0.5h hearts from 52 +/- 22 to 120 +/- 53 nmol/g dry wt; P < 0.05). In contrast, AA was lower at the end of the reperfusion phase in HS24-h hearts than at the end of the preceding ischemic period (74 +/- 18 vs. 46 +/- 23 nmol/g dry wt; P < 0.05). Thus accelerated reperfusion-induced degradation of phospholipids in control hearts is completely absent in HS24-h hearts. Furthermore, the lack of functional improvement in HS0.5-h hearts is also associated with a lack of beneficial effect on lipid homeostasis. Therefore, it is proposed that enhanced membrane stability during reperfusion is a key mediator in the heat-induced cardioprotection.
In the eukaryotic cell an intrinsic mechanism is present providing the ability to defend itself against external stressors from various sources. This defense mechanism probably evolved from the presence of a group of chaperones, playing a crucial role in governing proper protein assembly, folding, and transport. Upregulation of the synthesis of a number of these proteins upon environmental stress establishes a unique defense system to maintain cellular protein homeostasis and to ensure survival of the cell. In the cardiovascular system this enhanced protein synthesis leads to a transient but powerful increase in tolerance to such endangering situations as ischemia, hypoxia, oxidative injury, and endotoxemia. These so-called heat shock proteins interfere with several physiological processes within several cell organelles and, for proper functioning, are translocated to different compartments following stress-induced synthesis. In this review we describe the physiological role of heat shock proteins and discuss their protective potential against various stress agents in the cardiovascular system.
Two members of the small heat shock protein family, alpha B-crystallin and hsp25, occur at high levels in the mammalian heart. To try and understand any differences in functioning, we compared their properties in cultured rat neonatal cardiac myocytes. Both proteins are stress-inducible, but the level of hsp25 is only slightly increased in cultured cardiac myocytes subjected to hyperthermic stress, while alpha B-crystallin levels even remain unchanged. Phosphorylation of alpha B-crystallin and to a lesser extent also of hsp25 is induced after the heat shock. Directly after heat stress, alpha B-crystallin and hsp25 are partly found in detergent-insoluble fractions, representing cytoskeletal/nuclear structures. Additionally, we show by confocal laser scanning microscopy that alpha B-crystallin and hsp25 become associated with sarcomeric structures directly after the heat shock, indicating a cytoskeletal protective function. Four to six hours after the heat shock, both proteins reoccupy their original positions in the cytoplasm again. In contrast to alpha B-crystallin, hsp25 not only translocates to the cytoskeleton but also migrates to positions inside the nucleus. Despite the fact that both proteins are normally part of the same complex, their behavior in neonatal cardiac myocytes appears to be very different. The sarcomeric association of alpha B-crystallin occurs under milder conditions and persists for a longer period of time in comparison with hsp25. Our findings suggest that alpha B-crystallin and hsp25 are both involved in protection of the cytoskeleton during stress situations in the heart, although in different manners. In addition, hsp25 also plays a role inside the nucleus.
Heat stress pretreatment of the heart is known to protect this organ against an ischemic/reperfusion insult 24 h later. Degradation of membrane phospholipids resulting in tissue accumulation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as arachidonic acid, is thought to play an important role in the multifactorial process of ischemia/reperfusion-induced damage. The present study was conducted to test the hypothesis that heat stress mitigates the postischemic accumulation of arachidonic acid in myocardial tissue, as a sign of enhanced membrane phospholipid degradation. The experiments were performed on hearts isolated from rats either 24 h after total body heat treatment (42 degrees C for 15 min) or 24 h after sham treatment (control). Hearts were made ischemic for 45 min and reperfused for another 45 min. Heat pretreatment resulted in a significant improvement of postischemic hemodynamic performance of the isolated rat hearts. The release of creatine kinase was reduced from 30 +/- 14 (control group) to 17 +/- 5 units/g wet wt per 45 min (heat-pretreated group) (p < or = 0.05). Moreover, the tissue content of the inducible heat stress protein HSP70 was found to be increased 3-fold 24 h after heat treatment. Preischemic tissue levels of arachidonic acid did not differ between heat-pretreated and control hearts. The postischemic ventricular content of arachidonic acid was found to be significantly reduced in heat-pretreated hearts compared to sham-treated controls (6.6 +/- 3.3. vs. 17.8 +/- 12.0 nmol/g wet wt). The findings suggest that mitigation of membrane phospholipid degradation is a potential mechanism of heat stress-mediated protection against the deleterious effects of ischemia and reperfusion on cardiac cells.
To explore the effects of heat stress (HS) in aged hypertrophied and nonhypertrophied rat hearts, postischemic recovery was investigated 15 mo after aortic constriction (AoB) or sham operation (Sham). Twenty-four hours after HS (42 degrees C; 15 min) or control treatment (normothermia), global ischemia was induced for 20 min in isolated AoB hearts and for 20 or 30 min in Sham hearts. After HS, postischemic recovery after 20-min ischemia in AoB hearts and 30-min ischemia in Sham hearts, respectively, was significantly better than in corresponding controls. In AoB hearts, cardiac output (CO), left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP), and the positive maximal first derivative of left ventricular pressure (+dP/dtmax) recovered to 33 +/- 26 (means +/- SD), 87 +/- 5, and 72 +/- 12%, respectively, after HS and to 5 +/- 8, 22 +/- 39, and 17 +/- 29% of preischemic values, respectively, in controls. Postischemic arrhythmias were significantly reduced in HS hypertrophied hearts, but creatine kinase (CK) loss was not reduced. In Sham hearts subjected to 30 min ischemia, CO, LVDP, and +dP/dtmax recovered to 20 +/- 20, 75 +/- 8, and 59 +/- 15%, respectively, after HS and to 3 +/- 8, 21 +/- 32, and 16 +/- 32% of preischemic values, respectively, in controls. Duration of arrhythmias and CK loss were not reduced in the heated hearts. When Sham hearts were subjected to only 20-min ischemia, functional recovery was not different in HS and control hearts, indicating that HS pretreatment extends the ischemic interval before irreversible injury occurs in the heart. In all HS Sham hearts, the myocardial 72-kDa HS protein (HSP 70) content was significantly increased. However, in HS AoB hearts, HSP 70 levels were not significantly different from the values in the control hearts. These results indicate that HS pretreatment induces cardioprotection in aged hypertrophied and nonhypertrophied rat hearts, which, however, cannot be unequivocally related to increased HSP 70 tissue contents.
BACKGROUND: In the present study, we investigated the time dependency and regional differences of the vascular adaptation of the myocardium after myocardial infarction (MI) in rats. METHODS AND RESULTS: MI was induced by total occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Time-dependent adaptation of the coronary vasculature was determined by histological staining of endothelial cells and measurement of basal and maximal coronary flow at days 0, 4, 7, 21, 35, and 90 after surgery in isolated retrogradely perfused hearts of sham-operated and infarcted rats. Cardiac function was determined during anterograde perfusion. In a separate group of experiments, regional myocardial flow was measured with radiolabeled microspheres in sham-operated and infarcted hearts to determine local differences in adaptation. Basal coronary flow was completely normalized within 7 days, whereas maximal coronary flow was not normalized until 35 days after MI. Normal growth, as observed in sham-operated hearts, resulted in a parallel increase in coronary flow and tissue mass from day 7 to 35 after surgery. In contrast, the increase in coronary flow was lower than the hypertrophic response in the right ventricles and septa of infarcted hearts, whereas a parallel increase in tissue mass and coronary flow was observed in the left ventricles of these hearts. These functional data were supported by structural data that showed the presence of numerous and dilated vessels, especially in the border zone of the infarcted and noninfarcted tissue. CONCLUSIONS: These observations demonstrate that vessel growth, predominantly in the region adjacent to the infarcted zone, results in complete normalization of coronary vasodilatory capacity within 35 days after MI.
The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the pre-ischemic and post-ischemic hemodynamic function of the heat-shocked rat heart is affected by changes in afterload and extracellular calcium concentrations ([Ca2+]e). Experiments were performed on isolated, ejecting Lewis rat hearts 24h after in vivo heat shock (LewHS) or anesthesia alone (Lewc). In vitro hearts were subjected to 60 min normoxic perfusion, 45 min global ischemia, and 60 min of reperfusion. Pre-ischemic and post-ischemic left ventricular performance was evaluated at [Ca2+]e ranging between 0.65 and 3.0 mM at afterloads of 8.0 kPa and 16.0 kPa. At 8.0 kPa, pre-ischemic function was comparable in LewHS and Lewc at [Ca2+]e equal to or above 2.25 mM. At lower [Ca2+]e, i.e., 0.65 and 1.25 mM, cardiac output (CO) was significantly lower in LewHS than in Lewc hearts. At 16.0 kPa, significantly lower CO values were found in LewHS than Lewc hearts at all [Ca2+]e levels. During post-ischemic reperfusion under basal conditions (8.0 kPa; [Ca2+]e = 2.25 mM) a significantly better recovery was observed in LewHS than Lewc hearts, persisting at [Ca2+]e equal to 1.25 mM. However, either by lowering [Ca2+]e to 0.65 mM or increasing afterload to 16.0 kPa (at all [Ca2+]e), heat shock-associated improvement of post-ischemic performance disappeared. In conclusion, pre-ischemic left ventricular performance of the isolated heat-shocked heart is depressed when it performs at low [Ca2+]e or against a relatively high afterload. The heat shock-mediated improvement of post-ischemic function is only present at relatively low afterload levels in combination with normal extracellular calcium concentrations.
The cellular mechanism of heat shock-mediated cardioprotection is still under debate. Because heat pretreatment negatively affects the normoxic left ventricular contractile performance in vitro when the extracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]o) is relatively low (0.65-1.25 mM), the intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis was studied in more detail in cardiomyocytes isolated from adult rats 24 h after heat stress (42 degrees C for 15 min) or anesthesia (control). Sensitivity to Ca2+ overload was assessed by exposure to veratridine (quiescent cells) or to [Ca2+]o ranging from 0.125 to 20 mM in quiescent and paced cardiomyocytes. The fraction of irreversibly hypercontracted cells was not different between groups. The fura-2 fluorescence ratio (I340/I380), which was used as a measure for cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in quiescent cells after exposure to [Ca2+]o (0.5-10 mM), was also not different between groups. Myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity was assessed in paced (0.5 Hz) cells by simultaneous measurement of [Ca2+]i transients and cell shortening. At stepwise increases of [Ca2+]o from 1 to 10 mM, these parameters were comparable between groups. The diastolic cell length shortened progressively and equally in both groups after increasing [Ca2+]o. However, within 2 min of return from 10 to 1 mM [Ca2+]o, cells from heat-shocked rats retained the same length, whereas cells from control rats contracted further (P = 0.05). These data suggest that heat stress improves relaxation after challenge with high [Ca2+]o.
Cardiomyocytes grow in hypertrophy due to a net increase in the synthesis of proteins, especially contractile proteins, in the cell. There is abundant information about the molecular and biochemical changes involved in this process, but it is not completely understood how cells sense mechanical stimuli and how these stimuli are transferred into a biochemical signal inducing the growth response. This mechanotransduction most likely takes place at the cellular membrane. The resulting signal is transferred to the nucleus, where it can initiate alterations in gene expression.
The uniformity of the mechanical load of the cardiac fibers in the wall is maintained by continuous remodeling. In this proposed model the myocyte changes direction in optimizing systolic sarcomere shortening. Early systolic stretch and contractility increases the mass of contractile proteins. Cyclic strain of the myocardial tissue diminishes passive stiffness, resulting in the control of ventricular end-diastolic volume. Utilizing these rules of remodeling in our mathematical model yields that the natural helical pathways of the myocardial fibers in the wall are formed automatically.
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In the cardiac left ventricle during systole mechanical load of the myocardial fibers is distributed uniformly. A mechanism is proposed by which control of mechanical load is distributed over many individual control units acting in the environment of the cell. The mechanics of the equatorial region of the left ventricle was modeled by a thick-walled cylinder composed of 6-1500 shells of myocardial fiber material. In each shell a separate control unit was simulated. The direction of the cells was varied so that systolic fiber shortening approached a given optimum of 15%. End-diastolic sarcomere length was maintained at 2.1 microns. Regional early-systolic stretch and global contractility stimulated growth of cellular mass. If systolic shortening was more than normal the passive extracellular matrix stretched. The design of the load-controlling mechanism was derived from biological experiments showing that cellular processes are sensitive to mechanical deformation. After simulating a few hundred adaptation cycles, the macroscopic anatomical arrangement of helical pathways of the myocardial fibers formed automatically. If pump load of the ventricle was changed, wall thickness and cavity volume adapted physiologically. We propose that the cardiac anatomy may be defined and maintained by a multitude of control units for mechanical load, each acting in the cellular environment. Interestingly, feedback through fiber stress is not a compelling condition for such control.
The postischemic recovery of hypertrophied hearts was studied 24 h after total body hyperthermia. To this end, anesthetized aortic-banded and sham-operated rats were subjected to heat shock (AoBHS and ShamHS, respectively). Cardiac hypertrophy was induced 8 wk earlier. In isolated ejecting hearts, functional recovery after 45 min of global ischemia was poor and moderate in nonheated (control) hypertrophied (AoBC) and nonheated (control) nonhypertrophied (ShamC) hearts, respectively. Heat shock significantly improved postischemic recovery in both AoBHS and ShamHS hearts. This improvement of functional recovery was associated with a significant reduction of the duration of arrhythmias. In addition, coronary flow was significantly higher in both types of heat-shocked hearts than in the corresponding control hearts during the preischemic as well as the postischemic period. Postischemic endocardial flow, assessed using radioactive microspheres, was significantly improved in AoBHS hearts. Compared with the corresponding control hearts, the native endogenous catalase activity was not changed in AoBHS hearts but was significantly increased in ShamHS hearts. The present findings suggest that the postischemic functional improvement after total body hyperthermia can be explained by increased and more homogeneous myocardial perfusion, which may also reduce the duration of postischemic arrhythmias. This effect is especially beneficial for the hypertrophied heart, which is known to be extremely vulnerable to the ischemic insult probably caused by subendocardial underperfusion.
OBJECTIVE: The aim was to examine differences between the postischaemic functional and biochemical recovery of adult and aged hypertrophied hearts. METHODS: Isolated hypertrophied hearts of adult and aged spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRadult; SHRaged) and normal hearts of age matched Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKYadult; WKYaged) were perfused in an ejecting heart preparation. Haemodynamic function was monitored before and after 45 min of ischaemia. Coronary effluent samples and tissue biopsies were taken for biochemical analysis. RESULTS: After ischaemia, in SHRadult and WKYadult the maximum positive first derivative of the left ventricular pressure (dP/dtmax) was restored to 105% and 97% respectively of the preischaemic values. Left ventricular developed pressure recovered to 80% (SHRadult) and 97% (WKYadult), while cardiac output reached 71% (SHRadult) and 99% (WKYadult) of preischaemic levels. In SHRaged and WKYaged the dP/dtmax recovered to 26% and 60% respectively (both p < 0.05 compared to the preischaemic values). The left ventricular developed pressure recovered to 36% in SHRaged and to 73% in WKYaged (both p < 0.05), while cardiac output was restored to 6% in SHRaged and 38% in WKYaged (both p < 0.05). Throughout reperfusion, left ventricular end diastolic pressure remained significantly elevated in SHRaged, and was associated with a prominent subendocardial underperfusion, suggesting an impaired diastolic functional recovery. Overall haemodynamic recovery was significantly better in the WKYaged than in the SHRaged. The preischaemic total adenine nucleotides content was comparable in all groups, but creatine phosphate levels were significantly lower in both aged groups than in adult groups. In all but the WKYadult, the total adenine nucleotides were depressed upon reperfusion, while creatine phosphate normalised, except in SHRaged. SHRaged lost more lactate dehydrogenase and tended to lose more xanthine and uric acid than other groups. CONCLUSIONS: The aged hypertrophied heart shows a higher vulnerability to ischaemic damage than the adult hypertrophied heart. This phenomenon is associated with subendocardial underperfusion, increased membrane damage and inadequate recovery of creatine phosphate levels.
In the present study we investigated the concentrations of cardiac cytoplasmic fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABPc) in various regions of the left and right ventricles of both Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). To this end, the ventricles of six WKY and six SHR hearts were cut in three slices, which were further dissected in one right ventricular piece and ten left ventricular pieces (five inner layer and five outer layer pieces). After homogenisation. H-FABPc was assessed using an Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) of the sandwich type. It was found that, when expressed per gram wet tissue, the overall concentration of H-FABPc tended to be lower in SHR than in WKY hearts (874 +/- 53 micrograms/g and 955 +/- 51 micrograms/g, respectively; 0.1 less than P less than 0.2, means +/- S.E.M. for n = 6 animals in each group). However, due to a 30-35% higher ventricular heart mass in SHR than in WKY, the total H-FABPc content per heart turned out to be about 20% higher in SHR than in WKY rats. No concentration differences could be detected between right and left ventricles in WKY and SHR but a marked difference between the outer layer and the inner layer of the left ventricular wall was monitored in both groups. In general, the concentration in the outer layer was 5-15% higher than in the corresponding inner layer. These differences reached the level of significance (P less than 0.05) in regions close to the basis of the heart.