The effect of mechanical stimulation on the expression of apoptosis-related genes in cardiomyocytes

Abstract

Mechanical stimulation is capable of affecting cell apoptosis. Several studies have shown that the Bcl-2 gene family, including the Bcl-2 gene and Bax gene, plays an important role in apoptosis, as proteins produced by the Bcl-2 gene can inhibit apoptosis while proteins produced by the Bax gene can promote cell apoptosis. Understanding how mechanical stimulation alters the expression of apoptosis-related genes in cardiomyocytes can contribute to the development of ways to inhibit cardiomyocyte necrosis. Intermediate myocytes showed a clear transmural repolarization. The cytoskeleton changed slowly in the cytoplasm of cardiomyocytes. The high-frequency mechanical signal stimulation under caspase inhibitors had the lowest apoptotic rate of cardiomyocytes, and a comparison showed that the rate of necrosis of cardiomyocytes was lower in the high-frequency group than in the inhibitor group at different times. The expression of the Bcl-2 gene increased significantly after the stimulation of the high-frequency mechanical signal. Overall, the results suggest that high-frequency stimulation can effectively inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis. KeywordsBcl-2 gene • Cardiomyocyte • Apoptosis • Stimulation • Loading model Abbreviations ER Endoplasmic reticulum GFP Green fluorescent protein PBS Phosphate buffer saline Rt-qPCR Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain * Yuejin Zhang