The Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter participates in Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury and in Cardioprotection by Ischemic Preconditioning

The objective of the present study was to determine whether the mitochondrial calcium uniporter plays a role in cardioprotection by ischemic preconditioning (IPC). Isolated rat hearts were subjected to 30 min regional ischemia by ligation of the left anterior descending artery followed by 120 min reperfusion. We found that both IPC and inhibition of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter during reperfusion improved recovery of left ventricular developed pressure, maximal rise velocity and end-diastolic pressure, and reduced infarct size and lactate dehydrogenase release. These protective effects were attenuated by activating the mitochondrial calcium uniporter. We conclude that the mitochondrial calcium uniporter is involved in the cardioprotection of ischemic preconditioning.