ABSTRACT
Ischemic-postconditioning (iPostC) exerts cardioprotection by preserving redox homeostasis in the reperfused heart. This protective effect has been associated with the activation of endogenous antioxidant response driven by transcription factor Nrf2 and with the activation of 'reperfusion injury salvage kinases' (RISK) as PI3K, PKC and Erk1/2. Redox homeostasis is essential for normal cell physiology since reactive oxygen species (ROS) are crucial for processes that involve protein signaling. Thus, it has become clear that not only the perturbation of redox balance to oxidative state is deleterious but also towards a reductive state contributing to pathogenesis of diseases. However, there is still a scarce knowledge about the role of ROS in the cardioprotective signals mediated by RISK in postconditioned hearts. Therefore, we studied the role of ROS as initiator of RISK signaling molecules in iPostC-conferred cardioprotection. With the aim to study the relationship between redox-dependent RISK activation and the downstream activation of the transcription factor Nrf2, we evaluated the effect of redox signaling disruption by the effect of ascorbic acid in iPostC hearts. Our results showed that PKCε and Erk1/2 activation is redox-dependent and that concurs downstream with Nrf2 deficient activation. Besides, using inhibitors we found that neither PI3K nor Erk1/2 are directly related with Nrf2 activation, indicating that these kinases have other targets. We conclude that redox signaling participates in cardioprotection triggered by iPostC through the action of kinase-dependent and -independent mechanisms and concurred with the downstream regulation of Nrf2-mediated antioxidant response to prolonged redox balance during long reperfusion.