The progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy is related to cardiomyocyte dysfunction and apoptosis. Our previous studies showed that asporin (ASPN) was significantly increased in the myocardium of db/db mice through proteomics, and grape seed procyanidin B2 (GSPB2) significantly inhibited the expression of ASPN in the heart of db/db mice. We report here that ASPN played a critical role in glycated low-density lipoproteins (gly-LDL) induced-cardiomyocyte apoptosis. We found that gly-LDL upregulated ASPN expression. ASPN increased H9C2 cardiomyocyte apoptosis with down-regulation of Bcl-2, upregulation of transforming growth factor-β1, Bax, collagen III, fibronectin, and phosphorylation of smad2 and smad3. However, GSPB2 treatment reversed ASPN-induced impairments in H9C2 cardiomyocytes. These results provide evidence for the cardioprotective action of GSPB2 against ASPN injury, and thus suggest a new target for fighting against diabetic cardiomyopathy.
Keywords: asporin; cardiomyocyte apoptosis; glycated low-density lipoproteins; grape seed procyanidin B2; transforming growth factor-β1.
© 2019 International Federation for Cell Biology.