The role of AMP-activated protein kinase in fuel selection by the stressed heart

The heart responds to energetic stress with both acute and chronic changes in substrate metabolism. Recent work has demonstrated that the metabolic stress kinase AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) plays an important role in the acute regulation of carbohydrate and fatty acid metabolism in the setting of acute energetic stressors, such as ischemia/reperfusion, or increased workload, through covalent and noncovalent regulation of enzymes involved in intermediary metabolism. In addition, chronic activation of AMPK has been shown to affect the expression of key proteins regulating carbohydrate and fatty acid metabolism. Characterizing the effects of AMPK will provide important insights into its function in the normal heart and might provide new metabolic therapies for ischemic heart disease and heart failure.