BACKGROUND AND AIM: Osmotic changes represent a burden for the body and their limitation would be beneficial. We hypothesized that ubiquitous natural compounds could guard against cytotoxic effects of osmotic stress. We evaluated the anti-hypertonic mechanism of quercetin and 2,3-dehydrosilybin in H9c2 cells in vitro. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE: Protective effect of both compounds was determined by neutral red assay, cell apoptosis was estimated by measuring caspase-3 activity and verified by western blot and annexin V assay. Phosphorylation level of selected proteins was also detected. Mitochondrial membrane potential was evaluated using dye JC-1. Ca2+ signals were evaluated using genetically encoded fluorescent Ca2+ biosensor GCaMP7f. Formation of reactive oxygen species was measured using an oxidant-sensing probe dihydrofluorescein diacetate. KEY RESULTS: Quercetin protected H9c2 cells against hypertonic stress-induced cell death. We observed a significant increase in intracellular Ca2+ levels ([Ca2+]cyto) when cells originally placed in a hypertonic solution were returned to a normotonic environment. Quercetin was found to prevent this increase in [Ca2+]cyto and also the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Quercetin, but not 2,3-dehydrosilybin, reduced adverse effects of osmotic stress mainly by dampening the elevation of [Ca2+]cyto and mitochondrial Ca2+ overload. This may consequently prevent MPTP pore opening and activation of apoptosis.

Department of Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry Palacký University Olomouc Czech Republic

Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences Vídeňská 1083 CZ 142 20 Prague Czech Republic

Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Gottfried Schatz Research Center Medical University of Graz Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6 6 8010 Graz Austria

Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Gottfried Schatz Research Center Medical University of Graz Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6 6 8010 Graz Austria; BioTechMed Graz 8010 Graz Austria

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