Extracellular ubiquitin inhibits β-AR-stimulated apoptosis in cardiac myocytes: role of GSK-3β and mitochondrial pathways

摘要

Aimsβ-Adrenergic receptor (β-AR) stimulation induces apoptosis in adult rat ventricular myocytes (ARVMs) via the activation of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) and mitochondrial pathways. However, β-AR stimulation induces apoptosis only in a fraction (∼15–20%) of ARVMs. We hypothesized that ARVMs may secrete/release a survival factor(s) which protects 80–85% of cells from apoptosis.