Differential effects of membrane and soluble Fas ligand on cardiomyocytes: role in ischemia/reperfusion injury

Cardiomyocyte apoptosis by Fas ligand (FasL)/Fas signaling is associated with various pathophysiological conditions, such as ischemia/reperfusion injury and congestive heart failure. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that shedding of membrane FasL is a mechanism for downregulating FasL/Fas signaling and both membrane and soluble FasL are involved in cardiomyocyte hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury. We also examined the relative importance of mitochondrial damage and direct cleavage of the executioner caspases by activated initiator caspase 8 in the propagation of FasL/Fas signaling activated by either recombinant membrane FasL or H/R. We demonstrated that in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes maintained under normal culture conditions, recombinant human soluble FasL increased caspase 3 activation by twofold but did not reduce cell viability. In contrast, infection with a recombinant adenoviral vector expressing the non-cleavable human FasL (Ad2/nchFasL) resulted in cardiomyocyte death that was attenuated by soluble FasL. H/R increased the mRNA levels of both FasL and Fas and activated caspases 8, 9 and 3, indicating the activation of FasL/Fas signaling. Z-IETD.fmk and Z-LEHD.fmk, selective inhibitors for caspases 8 and 9, respectively, abolished caspase 3 activation induced by Ad2/nchFasL or H/R. Z-IETD.fmk also significantly reduced Ad2/nchFasL- or H/R-induced cardiomyocyte death. H/R potentiated membrane FasL-induced cell death. These results suggest that shedding of membrane FasL downregulates FasL/Fas signaling in cardiomyocytes and both membrane and soluble FasL contribute to H/R injury. Activation of FasL/Fas signaling by either recombinant membrane FasL under normal culture conditions or H/R causes cardiomyocyte death mainly through the mitochondrial damage/caspase 9 activation pathway.