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Na+,K+-ATPase and cell survival were investigated in a cellular model of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R)-induced injury and protection by ouabain-induced preconditioning (OPC). Rat neonatal cardiac myocytes were subjected to 30 min of substrate and coverslip-induced ischemia followed by 30 min of simulated reperfusion. This significantly compromised cell viability as documented by lactate dehydrogenase release and Annexin V/propidium iodide staining. Total Na+,K+-ATPase α1- and α3-polypeptide expression remained unchanged, but cell surface biotinylation and immunostaining studies revealed that α1-cell surface abundance was significantly decreased. Na+,K+-ATPase-activity in crude homogenates and86Rb+transport in live cells were both significantly decreased by about 30% after I/R. OPC, induced by a 4-min exposure to 10 μM ouabain that ended 8 min before the beginning of ischemia, increased cell viability in a PKCε-dependent manner. This was comparable with the protective effect of OPC previously reported in intact heart preparations. OPC prevented I/R-induced decrease of Na+,K+-ATPase activity and surface expression. This model also revealed that Na+,K+-ATPase-mediated86Rb+uptake was not restored to control levels in the OPC group, suggesting that the increased viability was not conferred by an increased Na+,K+-ATPase-mediated ion transport capacity at the cell membrane. Consistent with this observation, transient expression of an internalization-resistant mutant form of Na+,K+-ATPase α1known to have increased surface abundance without increased ion transport activity successfully reduced I/R-induced cell death. These results suggest that maintenance of Na+,K+-ATPase cell surface abundance is critical to myocyte survival after an ischemic attack and plays a role in OPC-induced protection. They further suggest that the protection conferred by increased surface expression of Na+,K+-ATPase may be independent of ion transport.

Through their ion-pumping and non-ion-pumping functions, Na+-K+-ATPase protein complexes at the plasma membrane are critical to intracellular homeostasis and to the physiological and pharmacological actions of cardiotonic steroids. Alteration of the abundance of Na+-K+-ATPase units at the cell surface is one of the mechanisms for Na+-K+-ATPase regulation in health and diseases that has been closely examined over the past few decades. We here summarize these findings, with emphasis on studies that explicitly tested the involvement of defined regions or residues on the Na+-K+-ATPase α1 polypeptide. We also report new findings on the effect of manipulating Na+-K+-ATPase membrane abundance by targeting one of these defined regions: a dileucine motif of the form [D/E]XXXL[L/I]. In this study, opossum kidney cells stably expressing rat α1 Na+-K+-ATPase or a mutant where the motif was disrupted (α1-L499V) were exposed to 30 min of substrate/coverslip-induced-ischemia followed by reperfusion (I-R). Biotinylation studies suggested that I-R itself acted as an inducer of Na+-K+-ATPase internalization and that surface expression of the mutant was higher than the native Na+-K+-ATPase before and after ischemia. Annexin V/propidium iodide staining and lactate dehydrogenase release suggested that I-R injury was reduced in α1-L499V-expressing cells compared with α1-expressing cells. Hence, modulation of Na+-K+-ATPase cell surface abundance through structural determinants on the α-subunit is an important mechanism of regulation of cellular Na+-K+-ATPase in various physiological and pathophysiological conditions, with a significant impact on cell survival in face of an ischemic stress.

We report the molecular cloning of the cDNA sequence for pig peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) by using RT-PCR and 5'/3' terminal extension. Three different transcripts (long, middle, and short) are identified. The open reading frame (ORF) of the longest PBR mRNA encodes a deduced polypeptide of 169 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 18,609 Da and an estimated pI of 9.70, which corresponds to the authentic PBR of other mammalian species. The middle transcript (PBR-M) contains a 141-codon ORF, which is consistent with that of the authentic PBR, but lacks a region of 84 bp so that its encoded polypeptide lacks a region of 28 amino acids from 35 to 62 of the authentic PBR polypeptide. The short transcript (PBR-S) contains a 104-codon ORF, which overlaps that of the authentic PBR, but lacks a region of 211 bp so that its encoded polypeptide lacks a region of 65 amino acids of the N-terminal of the authentic PBR. The pig PBR gene was mapped to the telomeric end of SSC5p. In addition, PBR mRNA was the more abundant detected form in pig tissues and in warm kidney that underwent ischemia suggesting functional implications of PBR during the renal repair process.

BackgroundRisk stratification of patients with stable chronic heart failure (CHF) is critical to better identify those who may benefit the most from invasive strategies such as heart transplantation.MethodsTo improve cardiovascular (CV) death prediction in CHF, we performed a proteomic analysis using high throughput surface enhanced laser desorption ionization – time of fight – mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS). Plasma samples were pre-treated to access the deep proteome. The proteomic analysis was first performed in a case (CV death within 3 years) /control (survivors at 3 years) study including 198 patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)