Conclusions
We further demonstrated the protective effect of metformin on cardiomyocytes, which might be at least partly attributable to upregulation of STEAP4. Therefore, STEAP4 might be a new target to decrease apoptosis and rescue mitochondrial function in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Results
We found that metformin decreased infarct size, increased expression of STEAP4, mitigated myocardial apoptosis and increased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) when the models were subjected to H/R or I/R injuries. However, STEAP4 knockdown significantly abrogated the beneficial effect of metformin. Conclusions: We further demonstrated the protective effect of metformin on cardiomyocytes, which might be at least partly attributable to upregulation of STEAP4. Therefore, STEAP4 might be a new target to decrease apoptosis and rescue mitochondrial function in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.