Decorin protects cardiac myocytes against simulated ischemia/reperfusion injury

Primary cardiac myocytes isolated from neonatal Wistar rats were cultured and simulated ischemia/reperfusion injury were conducted on them in the presence or absence of decorin. Decorin is a small leucin-rich proteoglycan, which has a cardiocytoprotective effect. The underlaying mechanism of this cardiocytoprotective phenomenon is unknown, therefore our aim was to investigate the changes in the mRNA expression between the decorin (3nM) treated and vehicle-treated control cells.