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The magnitude and temporal dependence of apoptosis early after myocardial ischemia with or without reperfusion
Author(s) -
French Christopher J.,
Spees Jeffrey L.,
Zaman A. K. M. Tarikuz,
Taatjes Douglas J.,
Sobel Burton E.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fj.08-116509
Subject(s) - tunel assay , apoptosis , in situ nick end labeling , ligation , ischemia , ventricle , caspase 3 , biology , medicine , pathology , andrology , cardiology , microbiology and biotechnology , programmed cell death , biochemistry
In view of the conventional wisdom in the cardiology literature that apoptosis is extensive early after myocardial ischemia, predicated largely from results with the TUNEL assay known to be nonspecific, this study was performed to delineate its extent with multiple assays and at multiple intervals. Coronary occlusion with and without subsequent revascularization was induced in 10‐wk‐old C57BL6 mice subjected to 1 or4hof transient ligation followed by 24 h of reperfusion, or 24 h persistent ligation. Apoptosis was quantified throughout the left ventricle immu‐nohistochemically by assay of TUNEL, single‐stranded DNA (ssDNA), and cleaved caspase 3;electron microscopy (EM); and activity assays of caspase 3 and 8. TUNEL staining was marked, but ssDNA and cleaved caspase 3 staining were significantly less (P< 0.001 compared with TUNEL), and apoptosis defined by EM was virtually absent in all groups. Caspase 3 and caspase 8 activities per milligram protein were not significantly different from those in normal hearts. Only rare, potentially apoptotic cells were seen by EM in hearts from any group. Thus, the results with TUNEL were not specific, and the extent of apoptosis was markedly less than that predicated on the results with the TUNEL procedure. Apoptosis is de minimus early after transitory or persistent ischemia, though it is overestimated by TUNEL assays. Thus, antiapoptotic interventions per se are not likely to preserve substantial amounts of myocardium early after ischemic insults.—French, C. J., Spees, J. L., Tarikuz Zaman, A. K. M., Taatjes, D. J., Sobel, B. E. The magnitude and temporal dependence of apoptosis early after myocardial ischemia with or without reperfusion. FASEB J . 23, 1177–1185 (2009)