J Biol Chem. 2022 Dec 07. pii: S0021-9258(22)01223-6. [Epub ahead of print] 102780
Ischemia and reperfusion affect multiple elements of cardiomyocyte electrophysiology, especially within the mitochondria. We previously showed that in cardiac monolayers, upon reperfusion after coverslip-induced ischemia, mitochondrial inner membrane potential (ΔΨ) unstably oscillates between polarized and depolarized states, and ΔΨ instability corresponds with arrhythmias. Here, through confocal microscopy of compartment-specific molecular probes, we investigate the mechanisms underlying the post-ischemic ΔΨ oscillations, focusing on the role of Ca2+ and oxidative stress. During reperfusion, transient ΔΨ depolarizations occurred concurrently with periods of increased mitochondrial oxidative stress (5.07 ± 1.71 oscillations/15 min, N = 100). Supplementing the antioxidant system with glutathione monoethyl ester suppressed ΔΨ oscillations (1.84 ± 1.07 oscillations/15 min, N = 119, t-test P = 0.027) with 37% of mitochondrial clusters showing no ΔΨ oscillations (vs. 4% in control, odds ratio = 14.08, Fisher's exact test P < 0.001). We found that limiting the production of reactive oxygen species using cyanide inhibited post-ischemic ΔΨ oscillations (N = 15, t-test P < 10-5). Furthermore, ΔΨ oscillations were not associated with any discernable pattern in cell-wide oxidative stress, nor with the changes in cytosolic or mitochondrial Ca2+. Sustained ΔΨ depolarization followed cytosolic and mitochondrial Ca2+ increase and was associated with increased cell-wide oxidative stress. Collectively, these findings suggest that transient bouts of increased mitochondrial oxidative stress underlie post-ischemic ΔΨ oscillations, regardless of Ca2+ dynamics.
Keywords: calcium imaging; cardiac monolayers; coverslip-induced ischemia; glutathione redox potential; inner membrane potential oscillations; neonatal rat ventricular myocytes; optical mapping; reactive oxygen species (ROS); reentry arrhythmias; reperfusion