Puma mediates apoptotic signaling of hypoxia/reoxygenation in cardiomyocytes

The present study is to investigate the role of Puma in cardiomyocyte death induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation(H/R).We found that H/R increased the level of Puma mRNA and protein accompanied by the elevation of cardiomyocyte death.Inhibition of endogenous Puma by siRNA attenuated H/R-induced cell death.Puma stimulated caspase-8 activation.