Endothelial ET(B) receptor activation by exogenously administered sarafotoxin 6c(a snake venom peptide with a sequence homology to ET-1 prior to ischemia activates release of nitric oxide(NO) and previous studies have shown that NO facilitates mitochondrial K(ATP) activation in cardiac cells and cardioprotection.
Pretreatment with sarafotoxin 6c prior to coronary occlusion protects against infarction and arrhythmias via cardiomyocyte mitochondrial K(ATP) channel activation in the intact rabbit heart during ischemia/reperfusion.