Lacidipine attenuates TNF-α-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis

•Lacidipine protects cardiomyocyte against apoptosis induced by TNF-α.•Lacidipine reduces TNF-α-induced apoptosis via blocking caspase-12, 3 successively.•Lacidipine alleviates endoplasmic reticulum stress by down-regulating CRT expression.•ERS-mediated pathway is involved in the mechanism of TNF-α-induced apoptosis. This study was designed to investigate whether lacidipine elicited a protective role on cardiomyocyte against apoptosis induced by TNF-α. Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were randomly assigned into different groups. TUNEL staining was utilized to detect apoptosis, and caspase-3 and caspse-12 were determined. To explore the underlying mechanism, Z-ATAD-FMK (a selective caspase-12 inhibitor) was used to identify the key molecule involved. TNF-α increased caspase-3 expression, which was mediated by increased caspase-12 expression. In the meantime, apoptosis was significantly induced by TNF-α. Lacidipine lowered caspase-12 and caspase-3 expression, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by TNF-α. The results suggest that lacidipine attenuates TNF-α -induced apoptosis via inhibition of caspase-12 and caspase-3 successively.