PDRPS7 protects cardiac cells from hypoxia/reoxygenation injury through inactivation of JNKs.

Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is a major complication of reperfusion therapy in myocardial infarction. Ischemic myocardium produces a variety of peptides. We recently identified PDRPS7 as a novel peptide in cardiomyocytes that can be induced by hypoxia. However, the role of PDRPS7 is unknown. Here, we investigated the effects of PDRPS7 on hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)-induced injury in rat cardiomyoblast H9c2 cells and NRCMs. We found that PDRPS7 improved cell survival and attenuated lactate dehydrogenase leakage following H/R in H9c2 cells and NRCMs. PDRPS7 also alleviated H/R-induced pulsation reduction in NRCMs. Moreover, H/R-induced cell apoptosis was decreased in the presence of PDRPS7. H/R-induced reactive oxygen species generation was reduced by PDRPS7; in addition, PDRPS7 did not impact H2O2-induced cell injury. Signaling analysis demonstrated that H/R increased the phosphorylation levels of JNKs, ERKs, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases. However, PDRPS7 only attenuated H/R-induced JNK phosphorylation, but not phosphorylation of ERKs and p38. PDRPS7 protected cardiomyocytes from apoptosis by inhibiting JNK phosphorylation and c-Jun phosphorylation pathways, markedly upregulating anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 expression and inhibiting that of pro-apoptotic Bax and cleaved caspase-3. Importantly, pharmacological activation of JNKs diminished the protective effect of PDRPS7 in terms of cell survival against H/R stimulation. In summary, our study identified PDRPS7 as a novel cardioprotective peptide against H/R challenge and this action was mediated, at least in part, through inactivation of JNKs.