Hypoxia and Apoptosis in Cardiac Myocytes

Abstract: Apoptosis is one of the major forms of cardiac myocytes death caused by hypoxia. Cardiomyocytes apoptosis induced by hypoxia may follow via the extrinsic death receptor pathway and intrinsic mitochondrial pathway， with complex crosstalk between the two pathways. And， the latter plays an important role. In addition， there are a variety of endogenous inhibitors of apoptosis in cardiomyocytes. Therefore， cardiac myocytes apoptosis induced by hypoxia are the result of multi-factors interaction. Many factors， such as Bcl-2 family proteins， mitochondrial permeability transition， cytochrome c release and caspases activation， are involved in hypoxic cardiomyocytes apoptotic regulation. It is hoped that a better understanding of the pathways of apoptosis induced by hypoxia and their regulations may yield novel therapeutic targets for ischemic heart diseases.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2004.05.0005