Caspase Activation and Mitochondrial Cytochrome C Release during Hypoxia-mediated Apoptosis of Adult Ventricular Myocytes

D. de Moissac, R. M. Gurevich, H. Zheng, P. K. Singal and L. A. Kirshenbaum. Caspase Activation and Mitochondrial Cytochrome C Release during Hypoxia-mediated Apoptosis of Adult Ventricular Myocytes. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology (2000) 32, 53–63. Oxygen deprivation for prolonged periods leads to cardiac cell death and ventricular dysfunction. The ability to prevent myocardial cell death would be of significant therapeutic value in maintaining cardiac function after injury. While caspases have been suggested to play a critical role in apoptosis, their involvement during hypoxic injury has not been formally determined. In this report, we show that adult ventricular myocytes subjected to hypoxia for 1 h undergo a three-fold increase (P