Age-related death-survival balance in myocardium: an immunohistochemical and biochemical study.

During ageing, the occurrence of apoptosis is due to a progressive impairment of normal functions, leading to eliminate redundant, damaged or infected cells. Here we report that also in myocardial tissue, ageing, besides reduction of the number of myocytes and of specialized conduction tissue cells, reduction in Ca(++) transport across the membrane, includes the establishment of apoptosis. In particular, the occurrence of this process, which is less represented than we would have expected, is mediated by the balance between the well known Bcl-2 protein family members, Bad, Bax and Bcl-2, related to the pathway PI-3-kinase/AKT-1, which is known to deliver a survival signal. In fact, aged myocardial cells disclose a suboptimal response, which underlines the possibility that they can become more sensitive to damaging factors or diseases, more frequently occurring during ageing, probably due to an exploited molecular control of apoptosis.