BACKGROUND: To study the role of Parkin in the regulation of mitochondrial autophagy in the heart by assessing mitochondrial autophagy and changes in Parkin protein expression in rat myocardium after myocardial infarction (MI).

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Rats were randomly assigned to three groups: control, sham, and MI. Four weeks after induction of MI, ultrasonic examination of the rats was performed to measure left ventricular end systolic diameter (LVESD), left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), left ventricular fractional shortening (FS), and left ventricular diastolic/systolic volume. Rat myocardium was collected from each group and examined for changes in morphology, size, and amount of mitochondria and autophagosomes by transmission electronic microscopy. A Western blot was performed to analyze the levels of Parkin and the autophagy-related protein LC3.

RESULTS: Four weeks after MI, cardiac function of the MI rats was impaired compared with the control rats. Both LVESD and LVEDD were elevated in the MI rats (p<0.05) while EF was decreased, indicating that the MI model was constructed successfully. After MI, increased numbers of mitochondria and autophagosomes were observed in the myocardium (p<0.05), and the mitochondrial morphology was destroyed. Chloroquine (CQ) treatment increased the number of autophagosomes in the myocardium of the control rats (p<0.05) but not in MI rats (p>0.05). In addition, the levels of the autophagy-related proteins LC3II/LC3I were elevated in the myocardium after MI (p<0.05) and the activity of Parkin was significantly reduced (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Under conditions of chronic MI, mitochondrial dysfunction and disruption of autophagosomal clearance are associated with Parkin expression.

Keywords: Autophagy - physiology, Autophagy-Related Proteins - metabolism, Mitochondria, Heart - pathology, Myocardium - pathology, Random Allocation, Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases - metabolism, Ventricular Remodeling - physiology