Role of protein kinase C isoforms in cardioprotective mechanism of chronic hypoxia

Cardiovascular diseases, particularly acute myocardial infarction, are one of the leading causes of death in developed countries. It is well known that adaptation to chronic intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (IHH) confers long-lasting cardiac protection against acute ischemia/reperfusion injury. Protein kinase C (PKC) appears to play a role in its cardioprotective mechanism since the administration of general PKC inhibitor completely abolished the improvement of ischemic tolerance in IHH hearts. However, the involvement of individual PKC isoforms remains unclear. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to investigate the potential involvement of PKCδ and PKCε, the most prevalent PKC isoforms in rat heart, in the mechanism of IHH-induced cardioprotection. We showed that IHH up- regulated PKC protein in left ventricle, enhanced its phosphorylation on Ser643 and increased its co-localization with markers of mitochondrial and sarcolemmal membranes. PKCδ subcellular redistribution induced by IHH as well as the infarct size-limiting effect of IHH was reversed by acute treatment with PKCδ inhibitor rottlerin. These data support the view that PKCδ plays a significant role in IHH-induced cardioprotection. On the other hand, adaptation to IHH decreased the PKC total protein level without affecting its..