No abstract

Chronic hypoxia down-regulates mENT1 activity possibly via PKC. Hypoxia and PKC also regulate mENT1 RNA levels. Cardiomyocytes may regulate mENT1 (via PKC) to modulate release and/or uptake of adenosine. However, the relationship between mENT1 mRNA levels, protein levels and functional transport is complex.

No abstract

Brief exposure of the heart to hypoxia results in less cellular damage after subsequent hypoxia, an effect known as preconditioning (PC). PC has been widely studied but is still not fully understood. Adenosine (Ado), adenosine receptors, and protein kinase C (PKC) have been implicated as integral components of PC. Adenosine (nucleoside) transporters (NTs) facilitate flux of Ado across cell membranes, but their role in PC is unknown. Therefore, we used the murine cardiomyocyte cell line, HL-1, and asked if there was feedback regulation of NTs by Ado, Ado receptors, and PKC following either hypoxic or pharmacological PC. Activation (by specific agonists) of A 1 or A 3 Ado receptors or PKC resulted in PC in HL-1. The A 1 (but not A 3 ) receptor is coupled to PKC⑀, and activation of PKC⑀ (by specific peptide agonist) resulted in PC. Moreover, PKC⑀ stimulates Ado uptake via the predominant NT in HL-1, mouse equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (mENT1). Studies in primary neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes confirmed our observations in HL-1 cells. Hypoxic challenge led to a rapid increase in, and efflux of, intracellular Ado from cells, which was blocked by NT inhibitors (dipyridamole/nitrobenzylthioinosine). Moreover, NT inhibition during hypoxia or PC was highly protective, suggesting that Ado loss contributes to decreased cell viability. Our data suggest that hypoxic challenge causes an efflux of Ado via ENTs, activation of A 1 and/or A 3 receptors, signaling through PKC⑀, and activation of ENT1. Since Ado is required for ATP synthesis on reperfusion, this feedback regulation of mENT1 would promote reuptake of Ado.Ischemia (reduced blood flow) and hypoxia (reduced oxygen) are serious problems in cardiology, from prenatal to geriatric settings, and we need a better understanding of the causes and consequences of ischemia/hypoxia to develop strategies to combat resultant damage. Although cardiomyocytes cannot rapidly proliferate to replace damaged tissues, they can respond to, and resist, the cellular stress caused by ischemia/hypoxia. Thus, cardiomyocytes are less damaged by ischemia/hypoxia if they have previously been briefly exposed to ischemia/hypoxia, a phenomenon known as ischemic or hypoxic preconditioning

Inhibition of adenosine reuptake by nucleoside transport inhibitors, such as dipyridamole and dilazep, is proposed to increase extracellular levels of adenosine and thereby potentiate adenosine receptor-dependent pathways that promote cardiovascular health. Thus adenosine can act as a paracrine and/or autocrine hormone, which has been shown to regulate glucose uptake in some cell types. However, the role of adenosine in modulating glucose transport in cardiomyocytes is not clear. Therefore, we investigated whether exogenously applied adenosine or inhibition of adenosine transport by S-(4-nitrobenzyl)-6-thioinosine (NBTI), dipyridamole, or dilazep modulated basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in the murine cardiomyocyte cell line HL-1. HL-1 cell lysates were subjected to SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting to determine which GLUT isoforms are present. Glucose uptake was measured in the presence of dipyridamole (3-300 microM), dilazep (1-100 microM), NBTI (10-500 nM), and adenosine (50-250 microM) or the nonmetabolizable adenosine analog 2-chloro-adenosine (250 microM). Our results demonstrated that HL-1 cells possess GLUT1 and GLUT4, the isoforms typically present in cardiomyocytes. We found no evidence for adenosine-dependent regulation of basal or insulin-stimulated glucose transport in HL-1 cardiomyocytes. However, we did observe a dose-dependent inhibition of glucose transport by dipyridamole (basal, IC(50) = 12.2 microM, insulin stimulated, IC(50) = 13.09 microM) and dilazep (basal, IC(50) = 5.7 microM, insulin stimulated, IC(50) = 19 microM) but not NBTI. Thus our data suggest that dipyridamole and dilazep, which are widely used to specifically inhibit nucleoside transport, have a broader spectrum of transport inhibition than previously described. Moreover, these data may explain previous observations, in which dipyridamole was noted to be proischemic at high doses.