Involvement of UTP in protection of cardiomyocytes from hypoxic stress

Massive amounts of nucleotides are released during ischemia in the cardiovascular system. Although the effect of the purine nucleotide ATP has been intensively studied in myocardial infarction, the cardioprotective role of the pyrimidine nucleotide UTP is still unclear, especially in the cardiovascular system. The purpose of our study was to elucidate the protective effects of UTP receptor activation and describe the downstream cascade for the cardioprotective effect. Cultured cardiomyocytes and left anterior descending (LAD)-ligated rat hearts were pretreated with UTP and exposed to hypoxia–ischemia. In vitro experiments revealed that UTP reduced cardiomyocyte death induced by hypoxia, an effect that was diminished by suramin. UTP caused several effects that could trigger a cardioprotective response: a transient increase of [Ca2+]i, an effect that was abolished by PPADS or RB2; phosphorylation of the kinases ERK and Akt, which was abolished by U0126 and LY294002, respectively; and reduced mitochondrial c...