Cardiomyocyte apoptosis in the right auricle of patients with ostium secundum atrial septal defect diseases.
Ostium secundum atrial septal defect (osASD) is one of the most commonly occurring cardiac malformations. Although some embryological pathways have been elucidated, the molecular etiologies of ASD are not fully understood. Previous microarray analysis in our laboratory identified differentially expressed genes between osASD and normal right auricular myocardium. Of the 1056 differentially expressed genes, 14 genes were related to apoptosis: eight pro-apoptotic genes were up-regulated and six anti-apoptotic genes were down-regulated in ASD patients. In the current study, we utilized semi-quantitative RT-PCR, electron microscopy, TUNEL and flow cytometry to further understand the role of apoptosis in the atrium of osASD patients. RT-PCR results confirmed differential expression data from previous microarray studies. Additionally, while apoptosis was detected in the right auricular myocardium of all osASD patients, it was absent in controls. These data suggested apoptosis may play an important role in the pathogenesis of osASD or possibly occurs as a consequence of volume overload and hemodynamic changes in right atrium of osASD patients.
Gong
Jie
J
Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No.300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing 210029, PR China.
Qian
Lingmei
L
Kong
Xiangqing
X
Yang
Rong
R
Zhou
Lei
L
Sheng
Yanhui
Y
Sun
Wei
W
Sun
Fengrong
F
Huang
Yuanzhu
Y
Cao
Kejiang
K
D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015870:Gene Expression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015854:Up-Regulation