Cardiomyocyte-specific Bcl-2 overexpression attenuates ischemia-reperfusion injury, immune response during acute rejection, and graft coronary artery disease.
After cardiac transplantation, graft damage occurs secondary to ischemia-reperfusion injury and acute rejection. This damage ultimately leads to the development of graft coronary artery disease (GCAD), which limits long-term graft survival. Apoptosis is directly involved in graft injury, contributing to the development of GCAD. To assess the role of the antiapoptotic factor Bcl-2 in the process of GCAD, we transplanted hearts from FVB transgenic mice overexpressing human Bcl-2 under the control of alpha-myosin heavy chain promoter into allogenic C57BL/6 mice. Bcl-2 overexpression led to reduced cytochrome c-mediated caspase-9-dependent cardiomyocyte apoptosis and local inflammation (neutrophil infiltration and proinflammatory cytokine production) in cardiac allografts during ischemia-reperfusion injury and also led to reduced immune responses (inflammatory cell infiltration, production of T(H)1 cytokines and chemokines, and expression of adhesion molecules) during acute and chronic rejection without affecting host CD4(+) and CD8(+) cell responses in the spleen. Thus, local Bcl-2 expression directly contributes to the modulation of local immune responses in allograft rejection, resulting in attenuated GCAD. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the modulation of Bcl-2 expression by pharmacologic up-regulation or gene transfer may be of clinical benefit in the short- and long-term function of cardiac allografts.
Tanaka
Masashi
M
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Falk Cardiovascular Research Center, 300 Pasteur Dr CVRB, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5407, USA. masashi@omiya.jichi.ac.jp
Nakae
Susumu
S
Terry
Raya D
RD
Mokhtari
Golnaz K
GK
Gunawan
Feny
F
Balsam
Leora B
LB
Kaneda
Hideaki
H
Kofidis
Theo
T
Tsao
Philip S
PS
Robbins
Robert C
RC
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity / Q000187:drug effects; D007249:Inflammation / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000378:metabolism*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000628:therapy*
D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2