The
sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase 2a (SERCA2a) is responsible for
calcium transport during excitation-contraction coupling and is essential for maintaining myocardial systolic/diastolic function and intracellular Ca2+ levels. Therefore, it is important to investigate mechanisms whereby
luteolin modulates SERCA2a expression to attenuate
myocardial ischemia/
reperfusion injury. C57BL/6j mice were randomly divided into eight groups. The expression and activity of SERCA2a was measured to assess interactions between the SERCA2a promoter and the
Sp1 transcription factor, and the regulatory effects of
luteolin. We used serum LDH release, serum cardiac
troponin I level, hemodynamic data,
myocardial infarction size and apoptosis-related indices to measure SERCA2a cardio-protective effects of
luteolin pretreatment. Sp1 binding to SERCA2a promoter under
ischemia/reperfusion conditions in the presence or absence of
luteolin was analyzed by
chromatin immunoprecipitation. Our experimental results indicated that during
myocardial ischemia/
reperfusion injury,
luteolin pretreatment upregulated the expression levels of SERCA2a and Sp1. Sp1 overexpression enhanced the expression of SERCA2a at the transcriptional level.
Luteolin pretreatment reversed the expression of SERCA2a through the increased expression of Sp1. Moreover, we demonstrated that
luteolin pretreatment appeared to exert myocardial protective effects by upregulating the transcriptional activity of SERCA2a, via Sp1. In conclusion, during
myocardial ischemia/reperfusion, Sp1 appeared to downregulate the expression of SERCA2a.
Luteolin pretreatment was shown to improve SERCA2a expression via the upregulation of Sp1 to attenuate
myocardial ischemia/
reperfusion injury.