李淑娟, 黄 晖, 迟宏扬, 汪乐新, 何天宇, 马福军, 田彦成, 赵彩齐, 彭红建, 姜怡邓, 杨 力, and 马胜超
AIM: To investigate the role of specific long noncoding RNA SLC25a6 (lncSLC25a6) in homocysteine (Hcy)-induced cuproptosis in cardiomyocytes. METHODS: Rat cardiomyocytes were cultured in vitro and divided into control group and Hcy group. After 48 h of intervention, the expression levels of cuproptosis-related proteins, ferredoxin 1 (FDX1) and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), were detected by Western blot and immunofluorescence staining. The oxidative stress state of cardiomyocytes was assessed using fluorescence staining, and the intracellular Cu2+ levels were measured using a copper ion assay kit. Furthermore, the impact of Hcy on the expression of cuproptosis-related proteins in cardiomyocytes was analyzed following overexpression of lncSLC25a6. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, 80 μmol/L Hcy significantly accelerated cardiomyocyte damage, with a notable underexpression of lncSLC25a6 (P<0. 05). Western blot results indicated that, compared with the control group, the expression level of FDX1 in the Hcy intervention group was significantly reduced (P<0. 05), while the expression level of HSP70 was significantly elevated (P< 0. 05), and the expression level of copper ions in cardiomyocytes of the Hcy group was increased (P<0. 05). Immunofluorescence staining showed a significant reduction in FDX1 fluorescence intensity and a significant increase in HSP70 fluorescence intensity in the Hcy group. Further overexpression of lncSLC25a6 significantly mitigated Hcy-induced cuproptosis in cardiomyocytes, resulting in elevated expression of FDX1 and reduced expression of HSP70 (P<0. 05). Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated that the expression level of lncSLC25a6 was negatively correlated with FDX1 protein expression (r= − 0. 676, P=0. 046) and positively correlated with HSP70 expression (r=0. 680, P=0. 044). CONCLUSION: lncSLC25a6 significantly mitigates Hcy-induced cuproptosis in cardiomyocytes, positioning it as a potential therapeutic target for managing Hcy-induced cardiac injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]