Functioning of the mitochondrial ATP-dependent potassium channel in rats varying in their resistance to hypoxia. Involvement of the channel in the process of animal's adaptation to hypoxia

The mechanism of tissue protection from ischemic damage by activation of the mitochondrial ATP-dependent K+ channel (mitoK(ATP)) remains unexplored. In this work, we have measured, using various approaches, the ATP-dependent mitochondrial K+ transport in rats that differed in their resistance to hypoxia. The transport was found to be faster in the hypoxia-resistant rats as compared to that in the hypoxia-sensitive animals. Adaptation of animals to the intermittent normobaric hypoxia increased the rate of transport. At the same time, the intramitochondrial concentration of K+ in the hypoxia-sensitive rats was higher than that in the resistant and adapted animals. This indicates that adaptation to hypoxia stimulates not only the influx of potassium into mitochondria, but also K+/H+ exchange. When mitoK(ATP) was blocked, the rate of the mitochondrial H2O2 production was found to be significantly higher in the hypoxia-resistant rats than that in the hypoxia-sensitive animals. The natural flavonoid-containing adaptogen Extralife, which has an evident antihypoxic effect, increased the rate of the mitochondrial ATP-dependent K+ transport in vitro and increased the in vivo tolerance of hypoxia-sensitive rats to acute hypoxia 5-fold. The involvement of the mitochondrial K+ transport in the mechanism of cell adaptation to hypoxia is discussed.