Cardiomyocytes' prolonged IL-2 incubation induces enhancement in L-type Ca2+ channels mediated by inhibitory-kappaB kinase/nuclear factor-kappaB signalling

Identification and validation of hypoxia-responsive signature pathways in human cardiomyocytes

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of hypoxia (1% O2) for 24 h in human AC16 cells by analyzing alterations in the expression of cardiac markers and signature pathways using immunocytochemistry and next-generation sequencing respectively. The Gene set enrichment analysis and Cytoscape software were used for data analysis and visualization respectively. Sequencing data validation and functional characterization were done using flow cytometry, qRT-PCR, an antibody array, and immunoblotting. The result revealed that the expression levels of troponins decreased; however, the expression levels of VEGF-A and HIF-alpha increased under hypoxia compared with unexposed control. A total of 2120 genes corresponding to 457 gene sets were significantly altered, 153 of which were significantly upregulated and 304 of which were downregulated in hypoxic cardiomyocytes. The significantly altered gene sets corresponded to key cellular and molecular pathways, such as cardiac hypertrophy, transcription factors, microRNAs, mitochondrial abnormalities, RNA processing, cell cycle, and biological oxidation pathways. Thus, this analysis revealed multiple pathways associated with hypoxia which provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying human cardiomyocytes, identifying potential targets for addressing cardiac illnesses induced by hypoxia.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-025-04271-z.

Myocardial infarction and oxidative damage in animal models: objective and expectations from the application of cysteine derivatives

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and associated oxidative stress are the main contributors to pathophysiological changes following myocardial infarction (MI), which is the principal cause of death from cardiovascular disease. The glutathione (GSH)/glutathione peroxidase (GPx) system appears to be the main and most active cardiac antioxidant mechanism. Hence, enhancement of the myocardial GSH system might have protective effects in the setting of MI. It follows that by increasing antioxidant capacity, the heart will be able to reduce the damage associated with MI and even prevent/weaken the occurrence of oxidative stress, which is highly ranked among the factors responsible for the occurrence of acute MI. For these reasons, the primary goal of future investigations should be to address the effects of different antioxidative compounds and especially cysteine derivatives like N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and L-2-oxothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (OTC) as precursors responsible for the enhancement of the GSH-related antioxidant system's capacity. It is assumed that this will lay down the basis for elucidation of the mechanisms throughout which applicable doses of OTC will manifest a potentially positive impact in the reduction of adverse effects of acute MI. The inclusion of OTC in the models for prediction of the distribution of oxygen in infarcted animal hearts can help to upgrade existing computational models. Such a model would be based on computational geometries of the heart, but the inclusion of biochemical redox features in addition to angiogenic therapy, despite improvement of the post-infarcted oxygenated outcome could enhance the accuracy of the predictive values of oxygenation.