The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the protective effects of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) signaling pathway activation in cardiomyocytes under anoxia-reoxygenation (A/R) injury. In this study, rat neonatal cardiomyocytes were pretreated with anti-Hif3A/Hif-3α siRNA or HIF-prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor prior to A/R injury. Our results showed that both HIF3A silencing and HIF-prolyl hydroxylase inhibition effectively increased the cell viability during A/R, led to changes in mRNA expression of HIF1-target genes, and reduced the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm). Furthermore, application of anti-Hif3a siRNA led to an increase in mRNA expression of Epo, Igf1, Slc2a1/Glut-1, and Slc2a4/Glut-4. Similar results were observed with HIF-prolyl hydroxylase inhibition, which additionally upregulated the mRNA expression of Epor, Tert, and Pdk1. Hif3a RNA-interference and application of HIF-prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor during A/R modelling led to an increase of Δψm on 11.5 and 11.9 mV respectively, compared to the control groups. Thus, Hif3a RNA interference and HIF-prolyl hydroxylase inhibition protect cardiomyocytes against A/R injury via the HIF signaling pathway.
Keywords: Anoxia/reoxygenation; Autophagy; Cardioprotection; HIF signaling pathway; Mitochondrial potential; RNA-interference.
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