Mitochondrial mechanism of heat stress-induced injury in rat cardiomyocyte

Heat stress results in cardiac dysfunction and even cardiac failure. To elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanism of cardiomyocyte injury induced by heat stress, the changes of structure and function in cardiac mitochondria of heat-exposed Wistar rats and its role in cardiomyocyte injury were investigated. Heat stress induced apoptosis and necrosis of cardiomyocytes in a time- and dose-dependent fashion. In the mitochondria of heat-stressed cardiomyocytes, the respiratory control rate and oxidative phosphorylation efficiency (P:O) were decreased gradually with the rise of rectal temperature. The Ca2+-adenosine triphosphatase activity and Ca2+ content were also reduced. Exposing isolated mitochondria to the heat stress induced special internal environmental states including Ca2+ overload, oxidative stress, and altered mitochondrial membrane permeability transition (MPT). In vivo, the heat stress-induced mitochondrial MPT alteration was also found. The changes of mitochondrial MPT resulted in the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol, and in turn, caspase-3 was activated. Transfection of bcl-2 caused Bcl-2 overexpression in cardiomyocyte, which protected the mitochondria and reduced the heat stress-induced cardiomyocyte injury. In conclusion, it appears that the destruction of mitochondrial structure and function not only resulted in the impairment of physiological function of cardiomyocytes under heat stress but may also further lead to severe cellular injury and even cell death. These findings underline the contribution of mitochondria to the injury process in cardiomyocytes under heat stress.