Modulation of cardiac Na+,K+-ATPase cell surface abundance by simulated ischemia-reperfusion and ouabain preconditioning

Na+,K+-ATPase and cell survival were investigated in a cellular model of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R)-induced injury and protection by ouabain-induced preconditioning (OPC). Rat neonatal cardiac myocytes were subjected to 30 min of substrate and coverslip-induced ischemia followed by 30 min of simulated reperfusion. This significantly compromised cell viability as documented by lactate dehydrogenase release and Annexin V/propidium iodide staining. Total Na+,K+-ATPase α1- and α3-polypeptide expression remained unchanged, but cell surface biotinylation and immunostaining studies revealed that α1-cell surface abundance was significantly decreased. Na+,K+-ATPase-activity in crude homogenates and86Rb+transport in live cells were both significantly decreased by about 30% after I/R. OPC, induced by a 4-min exposure to 10 μM ouabain that ended 8 min before the beginning of ischemia, increased cell viability in a PKCε-dependent manner. This was comparable with the protective effect of OPC previously reported in intact heart preparations. OPC prevented I/R-induced decrease of Na+,K+-ATPase activity and surface expression. This model also revealed that Na+,K+-ATPase-mediated86Rb+uptake was not restored to control levels in the OPC group, suggesting that the increased viability was not conferred by an increased Na+,K+-ATPase-mediated ion transport capacity at the cell membrane. Consistent with this observation, transient expression of an internalization-resistant mutant form of Na+,K+-ATPase α1known to have increased surface abundance without increased ion transport activity successfully reduced I/R-induced cell death. These results suggest that maintenance of Na+,K+-ATPase cell surface abundance is critical to myocyte survival after an ischemic attack and plays a role in OPC-induced protection. They further suggest that the protection conferred by increased surface expression of Na+,K+-ATPase may be independent of ion transport.