VX765 Attenuates Pyroptosis and HMGB1/TLR4/NF-κB Pathways to Improve Functional Outcomes in TBI Mice.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) refers to temporary or permanent damage to brain function caused by penetrating objects or blunt force trauma. TBI activates inflammasome-mediated pathways and other cell death pathways to remove inactive and damaged cells, however, they are also harmful to the central nervous system. The newly discovered cell death pattern termed pyroptosis has become an area of interest. It mainly relies on caspase-1-mediated pathways, leading to cell death. METHODS: Our research focus is VX765, a known caspase-1 inhibitor which may offer neuroprotection after the process of TBI. We established a controlled cortical impact (CCI) mouse model and then controlled the degree of pyroptosis in TBI with VX765. The effects of caspase-1 inhibition on inflammatory response, pyroptosis, blood-brain barrier (BBB), apoptosis, and microglia activation, in addition to neurological deficits, were investigated. RESULTS: We found that TBI led to NOD-like receptors (NLRs) as well as absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis in the damaged cerebral cortex. VX765 curbed the expressions of indispensable inflammatory subunits (caspase-1 as well as key downstream proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin- (IL-) 1ß and IL-18). It also inhibited gasdermin D (GSDMD) cleavage and apoptosis-associated spot-like protein (ASC) oligomerization in the injured cortex. In addition to the above, VX765 also inhibited the inflammatory activity of the high-mobility cassette -1/Toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor-kappa B (HMGB1/TLR4/NF-kappa B) pathway. By inhibiting pyroptosis and inflammatory mediator expression, we demonstrated that VX765 can decrease blood-brain barrier (BBB) leakage, apoptosis, and microglia polarization to exhibit its neuroprotective effects. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, VX765 can counteract neurological damage after TBI by reducing pyroptosis and HMGB1/TLR4/NF-κB pathway activities. VX765 may have a good therapeutic effect on TBI.

Polyacrylic acid-coated nanoparticles loaded with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator for the treatment of mice with ischemic stroke.

Nanoparticle-based thrombolysis is a potential new treatment for stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of targeted thrombolysis using recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA). The rtPA was covalently bound to magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) and maintained at the target site using an external magnet. Polyacrylic acid (PAA)-coated MNP were synthesized and rtPA was then bound to the resultant PAA-MNP via carbodiimide-mediated amide bonds. For the in vitro tests, blood clots were formed in plastic centrifuge tubes with anti-coagulated plasma, thrombin and calcium chloride. For the in vivo tests, mice with ferric chloride-induced distal middle cerebral artery occlusion were treated with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), MNP, rtPA, or MNP-rtPA (n = 6 mice per group). The binding efficacy was 80.7 ± 1.5 µg rtPA bound to 1 mg PAA-MNP. In the in vitro tests, the mean lysis percentage dramatically increased from 1.28% in the MNP group without rotation to 77.40% in the rtPA + MNP group with rotating magnetic field. The lysis efficiency of MNP-rtPA was 27.3 ± 1.3%, and it increased to 42.8 ± 2.8% with magnetic field rotation. The mean sizes of the infarct areas of the PBS, MNP, rtPA, and MNP-rtPA mouse groups were 20.09 ± 6.07, 18.28 ± 2.69, 8.65 ± 3.63 and 4.40 ± 2.46 mm3, respectively. Thus, targeted MNP-rtPA accelerated thrombolysis and reduced the infarct area in a mouse model of cerebral embolism. This approach may serve as a feasible and effective treatment for embolic cerebral ischemia.

Preclinical Studies and Translational Applications of Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) which refers to bleeding in the brain is a very deleterious condition with high mortality and disability rate. Surgery or conservative therapy remains the treatment option. Various studies have divided the disease process of ICH into primary and secondary injury, for which knowledge into these processes has yielded many preclinical and clinical treatment options. The aim of this review is to highlight some of the new experimental drugs as well as other treatment options like stem cell therapy, rehabilitation, and nanomedicine and mention some translational clinical applications that have been done with these treatment options.

Nanomaterial applications for neurological diseases and central nervous system injury.

The effectiveness of noninvasive treatment for neurological disease is generally limited by the poor entry of therapeutic agents into the central nervous system (CNS). Most CNS drugs cannot permeate into the brain parenchyma because of the blood-brain barrier thus, overcoming this problem has become one of the most significant challenges in the development of neurological therapeutics. Nanotechnology has emerged as an innovative alternative for treating neurological diseases. In fact, rapid advances in nanotechnology have provided promising solutions to this challenge. This review highlights the applications of nanomaterials in the developing neurological field and discusses the evidence for their efficacies.

Improving on Laboratory Traumatic Brain Injury Models to Achieve Better Results.

Experimental modeling of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in animals has identified several potential means and interventions that might have beneficial applications for treating traumatic brain injury clinically. Several of these interventions have been applied and tried with humans that are at different phases of testing (completed, prematurely terminated and others in progress). The promising results achieved in the laboratory with animal models have not been replicated with human trails as expected. This review will highlight some insights and significance attained via laboratory animal modeling of TBI as well as factors that require incorporation into the experimental studies that could help in translating results from laboratory to the bedside. Major progress has been made due to laboratory studies; in explaining the mechanisms as well as pathophysiological features of brain damage after TBI. Attempts to intervene in the cascade of events occurring after TBI all rely heavily on the knowledge from basic laboratory investigations. In looking to discover treatment, this review will endeavor to sight and state some central discrepancies between laboratory models and clinical scenarios.