Heat Shock Protein HSP60 in Left Ventricular Cardiomyocytes of Hypertensive Rats with and without Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

In cardiomyocytes, high molecular ATP-dependent HSP70 and HSP90 play an important role in protecting the myocardium from abnormal proteins that appear, in particular, due to activation of oxidative stress. Molecular chaperone HSP60 is of particular importance for cardiomyocytes as it is responsible for assembly of mitochondrial matrix proteins. We studied the peculiarities of expression of HSP60 in left ventricular cardiomyocytes in hypertension, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, and their combination. The experiment was performed on 38-week-old male Wistar-Kyoto and SHR (spontaneously hypertensive) rats aged 38-57 weeks. Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus was modeled by a single parenteral administration of 65 mg/kg streptozotocin. Expression of HSP60 in left ventricular cardiomyocytes was evaluated by immunohistochemical methods. It was found that hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and their combination are associated with a significant decrease in the content of HSP60 in left ventricular cardiomyocytes in comparison with the control. This finding can be considered as a pathogenetic mechanism of myocardial damage induced by hypertension and diabetes mellitus.

Keywords: HSP60; diabetes mellitus; heat shock proteins; hypertension; myocardium.