Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2020, Vol. 51 ›› Issue (2): 374-381.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2020.02.019

• BASIC VETERINARY MEDICINE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

High Level of Copper Induced Mitophagy in Cardiomyocytes of Rats

YANG Yanyang1, YU Wenlan1, LIAO Jianzhao1, YANG Fan2, PEI Ruonan1, CHANG Xiaoyue1, DENG Jichang1, HUANG Kunxuan1, TANG Zhaoxin1*   

  1. 1. College of Veterinary Medicine, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China;
    2. Institute of Animal Population Health, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China
  • Received:2019-09-04 Online:2020-02-23 Published:2020-02-22

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the high level of copper on mitophagy in cardiomyocytes of rats. Thirty-two eight-month-old healthy rats were randomly divided into 4 groups with 8 rats in each group. The rats were fed diet with different content of copper (control group:15 mg·kg-1, high-copper group Ⅰ:30 mg·kg-1, high-copper group Ⅱ:60 mg·kg-1, high-copper group Ⅲ:120 mg·kg-1). After feeding for 6 months, heart tissues were collected from anesthetized rats. The content of copper and the pathological change of myocardial tissues were measured. The mRNA levels of LC3A, LC3B, Parkin, PINK1 and p62 were detected by real-time quantitative PCR. Additionally, the protein expression of Parkin, PINK1 and LC3B/LC3A were measured by Western blot and the expression and localization of LC3B was detected by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. The results showed that content of copper in the heart of the high-copper groups was higher than that of the control group, the myocardial fibers were loose and irregular in the high-copper groups. Additionally, compared with the control group, the mRNA expression of LC3A and LC3B in the high-copper groups increased. The p62 mRNA expression in the high-copper group Ⅱ and Ⅲ was lower than that of control group. Furthermore, compared with the control group, the expression of PINK1 mRNA in the high-copper group was significantly increased, and the expression of Parkin mRNA was increased but not significantly. Meanwhile, with the increase of copper content in the diet, the protein expressions of PINK1, Parkin and LC3B/LC3A were significantly up-regulated. Moreover, LC3B was located in the cytoplasm, and the LC3B expression in high-coppergroups was significantly increased compared with the control group. These results suggested that high level of copper could induce mitophagy of rat cardiomyocytes.

Key words: copper, rat, cardiomyocyte, mitophagy

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