Although resveratrol has been demonstrated to be cardioprotective, the detailed cellular and molecular mechanisms that mediate the protection remain elusive. We aimed to determine if resveratrol protects the heart at reperfusion by modulating the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening through glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β). Resveratrol (10μM) given at reperfusion reduced infarct size (12.2 ± 2.5 % of risk zone vs. 37.9 ± 3.1 % of risk zone in control, n = 6) in isolated rat hearts subjected to 30 min regional ischemia followed by 2 h of reperfusion, an effect that was abrogated by the mPTP opener atractyloside (30.9 ± 8.1 % of risk zone), implying that resveratrol may protect the heart at reperfusion by modulating the mPTP opening. To define the signaling mechanism underlying the action of resveratrol, we determined GSK-3β activity by measuring its phosphorylation at Ser
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. Resveratrol significantly enhanced GSK-3β phosphorylation upon reperfusion (225.2 ± 30.0 % of control at 5 min of reperfusion). Further experiments showed that resveratrol induces translocation of GSK-3β to mitochondria and translocated GSK-3β interacts with the mPTP component cyclophilin D but not VDAC (the voltage-dependent anion channel) or ANT (the adenine nucleotide translocator) in cardiac mitochondria. Taken together, these data suggest that resveratrol prevents myocardial reperfusion injury by targeting the mPTP opening via GSK-3β. Translocation of GSK-3β to mitochondria and its interaction with the mPTP component cyclophilin D may serve as an essential mechanism that mediates the protective effect of resveratrol on reperfusion injury.
Postconditioning protects against human endothelial ischaemia-reperfusion injury via subtype-specific KATP channel activation and is mimicked by inhibition of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore
