Exogenous administration of mitochondrial DNA promotes ischemia reperfusion injury via TLR9-p38 MAPK pathway

Previous studies have shown a role of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in innate immunity. However, the specific role of mtDNA in acute myocardial infarction remains elusive. This study was designed to examine the damaging effect of mtDNA on cardiomyocytes. H9c2s cells were incubated with purified mtDNA or nuclear DNA with or without pretreatment by chloroquine, an inhibitor of Toll-like receptor 9(TLR9). The cell viability was tested by MTT. To demonstrate the toxicity of mtDNA, mtDNA fragments were injected into rats 10 min before ischemia for 30 min and reperfusion for 24 h. Infarct size was measured by TTC staining. Apoptosis of myocardium was detected by TUNEL staining and caspase-3 activity. The levels of TLR9, p-p38 MAPK, and p38 MAPK were detected by western blotting. The results showed that exogenous mtDNA reduced the viability of H9c2s cells and induced TLR9 expression, caspase 3 activation and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation. However, these effects were inhibited by chloroquine. In contrast, nuclear DNA did not have these effects. Intravenous injection of mtDNA into rats aggravated ischemia-reperfusion injury and increased infarction area through TLR9-p38 MAPK activation. We concluded that mtDNA released into the circulation by AMI may has detrimental effect on myocardium through aggravating ischemia-reperfusion injury via TLR9-p38 MAPK pathway.