Increase in cardioprotective SUR2A does not alter heart rate and heart rate regulation by physical activity and diurnal rhythm.

Objectives: SUR2A is an ABC protein serving as a regulatory subunit of ATP-sensitive (K) channels. An increase in SUR2A levels is cardioprotective and it is a potential therapeutic strategy against ischaemic heart disease, heart failure and other diseases. However, whether overexpression of this protein has any adverse effects is yet to be fully understood.

Improved adaptation to physical stress in mice overexpressing SUR2A is associated with changes in the pattern of Q-T interval.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether increased expression of SUR2A, a regulatory subunit of sarcolemmal ATP-sensitive K (K) channels, improves adaptation to physical stress and regulates cardiac electrophysiology in physical stress. All experiments have been done on transgenic mice in which SUR2A expression was controlled by cytomegalovirus immediate-early (CMV) promoter (SUR2A) and their littermate wild-type controls (WT). The levels of mRNA in heart tissue were measured by real-time RT-PCR.

Pyrazinamide may possess cardioprotective properties.

Pyrazinamide is an anti-tubercular agent, used as a part of a three-drug regime (any three of the following: rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, streptomycin or ethambutol) for the initial phase of treatment. One of the effects pyrazinamide has on mammalian cells is to regulate NAD/NADH levels. We have recently found that changes in NAD/NADH are associated with regulation of expression levels of SUR2A, a cardioprotective protein serving as a regulatory subunit of cardiac ATP-sensitive K (K) channels.

Insulin down-regulates cardioprotective SUR2A in the heart-derived H9c2 cells: A possible explanation for some adverse effects of insulin therapy.

Some recent studies associated insulin therapy with negative cardiovascular events and shorter lifespan. SUR2A, a K channel subunit, regulate cardioprotection and cardiac ageing. Here, we have tested whether glucose and insulin regulate expression of SUR2A/K channel subunits and resistance to metabolic stress in heart H9c2 cells.

'2A-Like' Signal Sequences Mediating Translational Recoding: A Novel Form of Dual Protein Targeting.

We report the initial characterization of an N-terminal oligopeptide '2A-like' sequence that is able to function both as a signal sequence and as a translational recoding element. Owing to this translational recoding activity, two forms of nascent polypeptide are synthesized: (i) when 2A-mediated translational recoding has not occurred: the nascent polypeptide is fused to the 2A-like N-terminal signal sequence and the fusion translation product is targeted to the exocytic pathway, and, (ii) a translation product where 2A-mediated translational recoding has occurred: the 2A-like signal sequence is synthesized as a separate translation product and, therefore, the nascent (downstream) polypeptide lacks the 2A-like signal sequence and is localized to the cytoplasm. This type of dual-functional signal sequence results, therefore, in the partitioning of the translation products between the two sub-cellular sites and represents a newly described form of dual protein targeting.

Mild hypoxia in vivo regulates cardioprotective SUR2A: A role for Akt and LDH.

High-altitude residents have lower mortality rates for ischaemic heart disease and this is ascribed to cardiac gene remodelling by chronic hypoxia. SUR2A is a cardioprotective ABC protein serving as a subunit of sarcolemmal ATP-sensitive K(+) channels. The purpose of this study was to determine whether SUR2A is regulated by mild hypoxia in vivo and to elucidate the underlying mechanism.

Upregulation of cardioprotective SUR2A by sub-hypoxic drop in oxygen.

The effects of hypoxia on gene expression have been vigorously studied, but possible effects of small changes in oxygen tension have never been addressed. SUR2A is an atypical ABC protein serving as a regulatory subunit of sarcolemmal ATP-sensitive K(+) (KATP) channels. Up-regulation of SUR2A is associated with cardioprotection and improved physical endurance.

Lost in translation: The biogenesis of non-LTR retrotransposon proteins.

"Young" APE-type non-LTR retrotransposons (non-LTRs) typically encode two open reading frames (ORFs 1 and 2). The shorter ORF1 translation product (ORF1p) comprises an RNA binding activity, thought to bind to non-LTR transcript RNA, protect against nuclease degradation and specify nuclear import of the ribonuclear protein complex (RNP). ORF2 encodes a multifunctional protein (ORF2p) comprising apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease (APE) and reverse-transcriptase (RT) activities, responsible for genome replication and re-integration into chromosomal DNA.

APE-type non-LTR retrotransposons of multicellular organisms encode virus-like 2A oligopeptide sequences, which mediate translational recoding during protein synthesis.

2A oligopeptide sequences ("2As") mediate a cotranslational recoding event termed "ribosome skipping." Previously we demonstrated the activity of 2As (and "2A-like sequences") within a wide range of animal RNA virus genomes and non-long terminal repeat retrotransposons (non-LTRs) in the genomes of the unicellular organisms Trypanosoma brucei (Ingi) and T. cruzi (L1Tc).

Ageing-induced decline in physical endurance in mice is associated with decrease in cardiac SUR2A and increase in cardiac susceptibility to metabolic stress: therapeutic prospects for up-regulation of SUR2A.

Ageing is characterized by decline in physical endurance which has been suggested to be partly due to diminished functional and adaptive reserve capacity of the heart. Ageing is associated with decrease in numbers of sarcolemmal ATP-sensitive K(+) (K(ATP)) channels, but whether this has anything to do with ageing-induced decline in physical endurance is yet to be determined. We have previously shown that the numbers of sarcolemmal K(ATP) channels are controlled by the level of expression of SUR2A, a K(ATP) channel regulatory subunit.

Human oocytes express ATP-sensitive K(+) channels.

Background: ATP-sensitive K(+) (K(ATP)) channels link intracellular metabolism with membrane excitability and play crucial roles in cellular physiology and protection. The K(ATP) channel protein complex is composed of pore forming, Kir6.x (Kir6.

Nicotinamide-rich diet improves physical endurance by up-regulating SUR2A in the heart.

SUR2A is an ATP-binding protein that serves as a regulatory subunit of cardioprotective ATP-sensitive K(+) (K(ATP) ) channels. Based on signalling pathway regulating SUR2A expression and SUR2A role in regulating numbers of fully assembled K(ATP) channels, we have suggested that nicotinamide-rich diet could improve physical endurance by stimulating SUR2A expression. We have found that mice on nicotinamide-rich diet significantly improved physical endurance, which was associated with significant increase in expression of SUR2A.

Infection with AV-SUR2A protects H9C2 cells against metabolic stress: a mechanism of SUR2A-mediated cytoprotection independent from the K(ATP) channel activity.

Transgenic mice overexpressing SUR2A, a subunit of ATP-sensitive K(+) (K(ATP)) channels, acquire resistance to myocardial ischaemia. However, the mechanism of SUR2A-mediated cytoprotection is yet to be fully understood. Adenoviral SUR2A construct (AV-SUR2A) increased SUR2A expression, number of K(ATP) channels and subsarcolemmal ATP in glycolysis-sensitive manner in H9C2 cells.

Nicotinamide-rich diet protects the heart against ischaemia-reperfusion in mice: a crucial role for cardiac SUR2A.

It is a consensus view that a strategy to increase heart resistance to ischaemia-reperfusion is a warranted. Here, based on our previous study, we have hypothesized that a nicotinamide-rich diet could increase myocardial resistance to ischaemia-reperfusion. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether nicotinamide-rich diet would increase heart resistance to ischaemia-reperfusion and what is the underlying mechanism.

M-LDH physically associated with sarcolemmal K ATP channels mediates cytoprotection in heart embryonic H9C2 cells.

Muscle form of lactate dehydrogenase (M-LDH) physically associate with K(ATP) channel subunits, Kir6.2 and SUR2A, and is an integral part of the ATP-sensitive K(+) (K(ATP)) channel protein complex in the heart. Here, we have shown that concomitant introduction of viral constructs containing truncated and mutated forms of M-LDH (Delta M-LDH) and 193gly-M-LDH respectively, generate a phenotype of rat heart embryonic H9C2 cells that do not contain functional M-LDH as a part of the K(ATP) channel protein complex.

A dual mechanism of cytoprotection afforded by M-LDH in embryonic heart H9C2 cells.

Muscle form of lactate dehydrogenase (M-LDH), a minor LDH form in cardiomyocytes, physically interacts with ATP-sensitive K+ (K ATP) channel-forming subunits. Here, we have shown that expression of 193gly-M-LDH, an inactive mutant of M-LDH, inhibit regulation of the K ATP channels activity by LDH substrates in embryonic rat heart H9C2 cells. In cells expressing 193gly-M-LDH chemical hypoxia has failed to activate K ATP channels.

Mg2+ protects adult beating cardiomyocytes against ischaemia.

Although Mg2+ reduces infarct size in whole heart models of ischaemia/reperfusion, the cardioprotective effect of Mg2+ at the cellular level is still a controversial issue. Therefore, we tested whether Mg2+ protects cardiomyocytes against ischaemia. To accomplish this aim we used an experimental model of ischaemia that utilises single beating adult cardiomyocytes in which oxygen tension is tightly regulated without the use of oxygen scavengers or metabolic inhibitors.