Restoration of blood flow to ischemic myocardial tissue results in an increase in the
production of oxygen radicals. Highly reactive, free radical species have the potential to
damage cellular components. Clearly, maintenance of cellular viability is dependent, in part,
on the removal of altered protein. The proteasome is a major intracellular proteolytic system
which degrades oxidized and ubiquitinated forms of protein. Utilizing an in vivo rat model,
we demonstrate that coronary occlusion/reperfusion resulted in declines in chymotrypsin …