FAT10 attenuates hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis by stabilizing caveolin-3

FAT10, a member of the ubiquitin-like-modifier family of proteins, plays a cardioprotective role in response to hypoxic/ischemic injury. Caveolin-3 (Cav-3), a muscle-specific caveolin family member, is involved in cardiomyocyte apoptosis. However, the link between FAT10 and Cav-3 in ischemic cardiomyocytes is unclear. In the present study, we found that both FAT10 and Cav-3 were upregulated in ischemic myocardial tissues and in hypoxic cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, our results demonstrated that FAT10 inhibits hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis by increasing Cav-3 expression. Importantly, following myocardial infarction, knockout of FAT10 aggravated cardiac dysfunction and increased cardiomyocyte apoptosis by reducing Cav-3 expression. Additionally, Cav-3 was degraded by the ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) in cardiomyocytes. Mechanistically, we found that FAT10 stabilizes Cav-3 expression by inhibiting ubiquitination-mediated degradation in cardiomyocytes. Together, these findings revealed a novel role of FAT10 in protection against ischemia-induced injury via stabilization of Cav-3, providing evidence that the FAT10/Cav-3 axis may be a potential therapeutic target for patients with ischemic heart conditions.