Up-regulation of miR-26a promotes apoptosis of hypoxic rat neonatal cardiomyocytes by repressing GSK-3β protein expression

► Overexpression of miR-26a increased the cell apoptosis and the levels of pro-apoptotic signal molecules of cardiomyocytes in H2O2-mediated cardiac apoptosis. ► The level of apoptotic proteins was up-regulated and the number of PI positive cells decreased in miR-26a overexpressed cardiomyocytes. ► GSK-3β is a miR-26a target gene; the inhibitory effect of GSK-3β on death receptor-mediated extrinsic apoptosis has been reported. ► We confirmed that miR-26a regulated GSK-3β as a pro-apoptotic modulator.