title: Free radical scavenging inhibits STAT phosphorylation following in vivo ischemia/reperfusion injury.
abstract: The signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) family are latent transcription factors involved in a variety of signal transduction pathways, including cell death cascades. STAT1 has been shown to have a crucial role in regulating cardiac cell apoptosis in the myocardium exposed to ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. The free radical scavenger, tempol, is known to have cardioprotective properties, although little is known about the molecular mechanism(s) by which it acts. In the present study, we assessed the levels of phosphorylated STAT1 and STAT3 and examined whether tempol was able to affect STAT activation after in vivo cardiac I/R injury. We observed a reperfusion time-dependent increase in the tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT1 and STAT3 at residues 701 and 705, respectively. Here we show for the first time that tempol dramatically reduced STAT1 and 3 phosphorylation. The reduction in STAT1 and 3 phosphorylation was accompanied by a concomitant decrease in cellular malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. To verify the role of STAT1 in modulating the cardioprotective effect of tempol, rats were injected with the STAT1 activator, IFN-gamma, and tempol during I/R injury. We found that the presence of IFN-gamma abrogated the protective effects of tempol, suggesting that the protective effects of tempol may partly operate by decreasing the phosphorylation of STAT1. This study demonstrates that careful dissection of the molecular mechanisms that underpin I/R injury may reveal cardioprotective targets for future therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Molecular Biology, The Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford St., London, WC1N 1EH, UK.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.forename: Sean P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.forename: Ahila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sivarajah
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stefanutti
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Townsend
authors.forename: Kevin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eaton
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thiemermann
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Latchman
authors.forename: Anastasis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stephanou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002316:Cardiotonic Agents; D003497:Cyclic N-Oxides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015428:Myocardial Reperfusion Injury / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D050794:STAT1 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D013113:Spin Labels
chemical_list: D002316:Cardiotonic Agents; D003497:Cyclic N-Oxides; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors; D050794:STAT1 Transcription Factor; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; D013113:Spin Labels; C494081:Stat1 protein, rat; C494088:Stat3 protein, rat; C001803:tempol