Regulation of Bcl-2 Family Proteins During Development and in Response to Oxidative Stress in Cardiac Myocytes

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Abstract
—Cardiac myocyte apoptosis is potentially important in many cardiac disorders. In other cells, Bcl-2 family proteins and mitochondrial dysfunction are probably key regulators of the apoptotic response. In the present study, we characterized the regulation of antiapoptotic (Bcl-2, Bcl-xL) and proapoptotic (Bad, Bax) Bcl-2 family proteins in the rat heart during development and in oxidative stress–induced apoptosis. Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL were expressed at high levels in the neonate, and their expression was sustained during development. In contrast, although Bad and Bax were present at high levels in neonatal hearts, they were barely detectable in adult hearts. We confirmed that H2O2 induced cardiac myocyte cell death, stimulating poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase proteolysis (from 2 hours), caspase-3 proteolysis (from 2 hours), and DNA fragmentation (from 8 hours). In unstimulated neonatal cardiac myocytes, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL were associated with the mitochondria, but Bad and Bax were predominantly present in a crude cytosolic fraction. Exposure of myocytes to H2O2 stimulated rapid translocation of Bad (2O2 also induced translocation of cytochrome c from the mitochondria to the cytosol within 15 to 30 minutes, which was indicative of mitochondrial dysfunction. Myocytes exposed to H2O2 showed an early loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (assessed by fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis) from 15 to 30 minutes, which was partially restored by ≈1 hour. However, a subsequent irreversible loss of mitochondrial membrane potential occurred that correlated with cell death. These data suggest that the regulation of Bcl-2 and mitochondrial function are important factors in oxidative stress–induced cardiac myocyte apoptosis.