Hydrogen Sulfide Regulating Myocardial Structure and Function by Targeting Cardiomyocyte Autophagy

Abstract

Objective:Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a gaseous signal molecule, plays a crucial role in many pathophysiologic processes in the cardiovascular system. Autophagy has been shown to participate in the occurrence of many cardiac diseases. Increasing evidences indicated that H2S regulates myocardial structure and function in association with the altered autophagy and plays a “switcher” role in the autophagy of myocardial diseases. The aim of this review was to summarize these insights and provide the experimental evidence that H2S targets cardiomyocyte autophagy to regulate cardiovascular function.Data Sources:This review was based on data in articles published in the PubMed databases up to October 30, 2017, with the following keywords: “hydrogen sulfide,” “autophagy,” and “cardiovascular diseases.”Study Selection:Original articles and critical reviews on H2S and autophagy were selected for this review.Results:When autophagy plays an adaptive role in the pathogenesis of diseases, H2S restores autophagy; otherwise, when autophagy plays a detrimental role, H2S downregulates autophagy to exert a cardioprotective function. For example, H2S has beneficial effects by regulating autophagy in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion and plays a protective role by inhibiting autophagy during the operation of cardioplegia and cardiopulmonary bypass. H2S postpones cardiac aging associated with the upregulation of autophagy but improves the left ventricular function of smoking rats by lowering autophagy.Conclusions:H2S exerts cardiovascular protection by regulating autophagy. Cardiovascular autophagy would likely become a potential target of H2S therapy for cardiovascular diseases.

The Role of Autophagy in Acute Myocardial Infarction

“…It is activated in response to nutrient starvation or metabolic stress for the maintenance of tissue functions and homeostasis (Dong et al., 2018). It has been demonstrated that basal autophagy is vital for the maintenance of normal cardiac functions (Zhang et al., 2018b). Under the ischemic stress, autophagy is activated to protect cardiomyocytes against ischemic or ischemia/reperfusion injury (Sciarretta et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2018b).…”

Hydrogen sulfide and vascular regulation – An update

“…Pathogens, abnormal proteins and organelles are engulfed by autophagosomes and undergo lysosomal degradation [67] , [68] . H 2 S is reported to either promote or inhibit autophagy depending on the different pathological process [69] , [70] . NaHS was shown to activate mitophagy in rat aortic endothelial cells (RAECs) [71] .…”

Fighting Oxidative Stress with Sulfur: Hydrogen Sulfide in the Renal and Cardiovascular Systems

“…H 2 S reduces inflammation, fibrosis, and hypertrophy induced by these pathways, however, it can become rapidly depleted during prolonged or intense oxidative stress [ 75 , 76 ]. Notably, H 2 S has been shown to play an essential role in autophagy, a major underlying mechanism of cardiac injury [ 77 ]. In cardiac autophagy, oxidative stress leads to the degradation of mitochondria, the primary source of that stress, as a form of self-survival [ 78 ].…”