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Research Perspective|Volume 2, Issue 12|pp 1012—1016

The NADPH Oxidase Nox4 and Aging in the Heart

Tetsuro Ago1,2, Shouji Matsushima1, Junya Kuroda1,2, Daniela Zablocki1, Takanari Kitazono2, Junichi Sadoshima1,2
  • 1Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA
  • 2Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Received: December 3, 2010Accepted: December 26, 2010Published: December 27, 2010
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.100261

Copyright: © 2010 Ago et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Oxidative stress in mitochondria is believed to promote aging. Although passive leakage of electron from the mitochondrial electron transport chain has been considered as a major source of oxidative stress in the heart and the cardiomyocytes therein, enzymes actively producing reactive oxygen species may also exist in mitochondria. We have shown recently that Nox4, a member of the NADPH oxidase family, is localized on intracellular membranes, primarily at mitochondria, in cardiomyocytes. Mitochondrial expression of Nox4 is upregulated by cardiac stress and aging in the heart, where Nox4 could become a major source of oxidative stress. This raises an intriguing possibility that Nox4 may play an important role in mediating aging of the heart. Here we discuss the potential involvement of Nox4 in mitochondrial oxidative stress and aging in the heart.