Puma deletion delays cardiac dysfunction in murine heart failure models through attenuation of apoptosis.

Background: Puma (p53-upregulated modulator of apoptosis) is a proapoptotic Bcl-2 family protein that serves as a general sensor in response to pathological apoptotic stimuli. In previous work, we demonstrated that puma ablation protects the heart from reperfusion injury in a Langendorff setting. Consistent with this, downregulation of Puma in isolated cardiac myocytes prevented apoptosis induced by different proapoptotic agents.