MCP-1-mediated activation of microglia promotes white matter lesions and cognitive deficits by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion in mice.

Microglia activation played a vital role in the pathogenesis of white matter lesions (WMLs) by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. In addition, hypoxia induced up-regulated expression of MCP-1, promotes the activation of microglia. However, the role of MCP-1-mediated microglia activation in chronic cerebral ischemia is still unknown. To explore that, chronic cerebral hypoperfusion model was established by permanent stenosis of bilateral common carotid artery in mice. The activation of microglia and the related signal pathway p38MAPK/PKC in white matter, and working memory of mice were observed. We found that stenosis of common carotid arteries could induce MCP-1-mediated activation of microglia through p38MAPK/PKC pathway and white matter lesions. Taken together, our findings represent a novel mechanism of MCP-1 involved in activation of microglia and provide a novel therapeutical strategy for chronic cerebral hypoperfusion.

MicroRNA367 negatively regulates the inflammatory response of microglia by targeting IRAK4 in intracerebral hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) induces microglial activation and the release of inflammatory cytokines, leading to inflammation in the brain. IRAK4, an essential component of the MyD88-dependent pathway, activates subsets of divergent signaling pathways in inflammation. METHODS: In the experiment, microglia were stimulated with erythrocyte lysates, and then miR-367, IRAK4, NF-ĸB activation and downstream proinflammatory mediator production were analyzed. In addition, inflammation, brain edema, and neurological functions in ICH mice were also assessed. RESULTS: Here, we report that ICH downregulated miR-367 expression but upregulated IRAK4 expression in primary microglia. We also demonstrate that miR-367 suppressed IRAK4 expression by directly binding its 3'-untranslated region. MiR-367 inhibited NF-ĸB activation and downstream proinflammatory mediator production. Knocking down IRAK4 in microglia significantly decreased the IRAK4 expression and inhibited the NF-ĸB activation and the downstream production of proinflammatory mediators. In addition, our results indicate that miR-367 could inhibit expression of proinflammatory cytokines, reduce brain edema, and improve neurological functions in ICH mice. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our study demonstrates that miR-367/IRAK4 pathway plays an important role in microglial activation and neuroinflammation in ICH. Our finding also suggests that miR-367 might represent a potential therapeutic target for ICH.

Toll-like receptor-4-mediated autophagy contributes to microglial activation and inflammatory injury in mouse models of intracerebral haemorrhage.

AIMS: Much evidence demonstrates that Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4)-mediated microglial activation is an important contributor to the inflammatory injury in intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH). However, the exact mechanism of TLR4-mediated microglial activation induced by ICH is not clear. In addition, microglial autophagy is involved other forms of nervous system injury. To explore the relationship between TLR4 and autophagy, we investigated the role of TLR4-mediated microglial autophagy and inflammation in ICH. METHODS: We detected TLR4 expression, autophagy and inflammation of microglia treated with lysed erythrocytes in vitro, and observed the cerebral water content and neurological deficit of ICH mice [TLR4-/- and wild type (WT)] in vivo. RESULTS: We found that lysed erythrocyte treated microglia (TLR4-/-) had reduced autophagy and inflammation compared with microglia (WT) in vitro. ICH mice (TLR4-/-) had reduced water content and neurological injury compared with ICH mice (WT). The autophagy inhibitor (3-methyladenine) decreased microglial activation and inflammatory injury due to lysed erythrocyte treatment, and improved the neurological function of ICH mice. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these data suggested that TLR4 induced autophagy contributed to the microglial activation and inflammatory injury and might provide novel therapeutic interventions for ICH.

A novel nanoparticle containing neuritin peptide with grp170 induces a CTL response to inhibit tumor growth.

Malignant glioma is among the most challenging of all cancers to treat successfully. Despite recent advances in surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, current treatment regimens have only a marginal impact on patient survival. In this study, we constructed a novel nanoparticle containing neuritin peptide with grp170. The nanoparticle could elicit a neuritin-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte response to lyse glioma cells in vitro. In addition, the nanoparticle could inhibit tumor growth and improve the lifespan of tumor-bearing mice in vivo. Taken together, the results demonstrated that the nanoparticle can inhibit tumor growth and represents a promising therapy for glioma.

Hypoxia induces microglia autophagy and neural inflammation injury in focal cerebral ischemia model.

Much evidence demonstrated that autophagy played an important role in neural inflammation response after ischemia stroke. However, the specific effect of microglia autophagy in cerebral ischemia is still unknown. In the current study, we constructed focal cerebral ischemia model by permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) in mice. We detected microglia autophagy and inflammation response in vivo, and observed infarct brain areas, edema formation, and neurological deficits of mice. We found that pMCAO induced microglia autophagy and inflammatory response. The suppression of autophagy using either pharmacologic inhibitor (3-MA) not only decreased the microglia autophagy and inflammatory response, but also significantly decreased infarct size, edema formation and neurological deficits in vivo. Taken together, these results suggested that cerebral ischemia induced microglia autophagy contributed to ischemic neural inflammation and injury. In addition, our findings also provided novel therapeutic strategy for ischemic stroke.

Dendritic cells transduced with CPEB4 induced antitumor immune response.

Much evidence leads to the exploration of immunologic approaches for eliminating tumor cells. Cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein 4 (CPEB4) is considered to be a novel therapeutical target for glioblastoma. In this study, we transduced DCs with CPEB4 to explore the immune response in vivo. We found that DCs transduced with recombinant adenovirus encoding CPEB4 could induce specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) to lyse glioma cells and augment the number of IFN-γ secreting T-cells in mice. In addition, the modified DCs could effectively protect mice from lethal challenges against glioma cells, reduce tumor growth and increase the mice life span. These results suggest that the DC transduced with CPEB4 may induce anti-tumor immunity against glioma cells and might be used as an efficient tumor vaccine in clinical applications.

Nrdp1-mediated Macrophage Phenotypic Regulation Promotes Functional Recovery in Mice with Mild Neurological Impairment after Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Neuregulin receptor degradation protein 1 (Nrdp1) is a ring finger E3 ubiquitin ligase involved in some inflammation through ubiquitination, including macrophage polarization following cerebral hemorrhage. However, there is limited understanding regarding the mechanisms through which Nrdp1 modulates macrophage polarization and the potential impact of this modulation on neurological function. Using stereotactic injection and adenoviral transfection techniques, the corresponding animal models were constructed through injecting adenovirus, saline, or blood into the mouse striatum at different periods of time in this research. The alteration in the ratio of various M1/M2 phenotype-associated markers (e.g., CD86, CD206, IL-6, IL-10, etc.) was evaluated through immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, western blotting, and elisa assays. Additionally, neurological function scores and behavioral tests were utilized to evaluate changes in neurological function in mice after cerebral hemorrhage. Our results show that overexpression of Nrdp1 promotes the expression of a variety of M2 macrophage-associated markers and enhance transcriptional activity of arginase-1 (Arg1) protein through ubiquitination for early regulation M2 macrophage polarization. Additionally, Nrdp1 promotes hematoma absorption, increases IL-10 expression, inhibits inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), IL-6, and TNF-α production, alleviates neurological impairment and brain edema, and accelerates functional recovery. These findings suggest that modulating macrophage polarization through Nrdp1 could be a therapeutic strategy for neurofunctional impairment in cerebral hemorrhage.

Identification of novel HLA-A(*)0201-restricted CTL epitopes from Pokemon.

Pokemon is a member of the POK family of transcriptional repressors and aberrant overexpressed in various human cancers. Therefore, the related peptide epitopes derived from Pokemon is essential for the development of specific immunotherapy of malignant tumors. In this study, we predicted and identified HLA-A(*)0201-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes derived from Pokemon with computer-based epitope prediction, peptide-binding assay and testing of the induced CTLs toward different kinds of carcinoma cells. The results demonstrated that effectors induced by peptides of Pokemon containing residues 32-40, 61-69, 87-95, and 319-327 could specifically secrete IFN-γ and lyse tumor cell lines of Pokemon-positive and HLA-A2-matched. The results suggest that Pokemon32, Pokemon61, Pokemon87, and Pokemon319 peptides are novel HLA-A(*)0201-restricted restricted CTL epitopes, and could be utilized in the cancer immunotherapy against a broad spectrum of tumors.

Isthmin inhibits glioma growth through antiangiogenesis in vivo.

Among glioma treatment strategies, antiangiogenesis emerges as a meaningful and feasible treatment approach for inducing long-term survival. Isthmin is a gene highly expressed in the isthmus of the midbrain-hindbrain organizer in Xenopus, and has recently been identified as a novel angiogenesis inhibitor. However, the potential of isthmin on the glioma angiogenesis has not been well studied. In the present study, we demonstrated that the recombinant adenovirus isthmin (Ad-isthmin) could inhibit VEGF-stimulated endothelial cell proliferation and induce apoptosis through a caspase-dependent pathway. In addition, Ad-isthmin significantly suppressed glioma growth through antiangiogenesis without apparent side effects. Taken together, our results demonstrated that isthmin could act as a novel angiogenesis inhibitor and might be utilized in the glioma antiangiogenesis therapy.

siRNA directed against Livin inhibits tumor growth and induces apoptosis in human glioma cells.

Livin, a novel member of the human inhibitors of apoptosis protein family, plays an important role in tumor progression and occurrence by inhibiting cell apoptosis. It is selectively expressed in the most common human neoplasms and appears to be involved in tumor cell resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. The present study was designed to investigate the potential of using RNA interference (RNAi) technique to downregulate Livin expression, and the subsequent effect on human glioma cells. The results showed that knockdown of Livin expression by short interfering RNA (siRNA) significantly inhibited glioma cell proliferation and increased cell apoptosis through cell arrest in the G(1)/G(0) phase of cell cycle in vitro. Furthermore, Livin siRNA significantly suppressed tumor growth in nude mice. Together, these findings suggest that RNAi-mediated downregulation of Livin expression could lead to potent antitumor activity in glioma cells and might serve as a novel therapeutic strategy in clinic.

Lewis X oligosaccharides-heparanase complex targeting to DCs enhance antitumor response in mice.

Heparanase has been proved as an promising tumor antigen for the therapeutical target. However, the antigen alone cannot fully elicit the immune response in vivo. In this study, Lewis X oligosaccharides-heparanase complex was prepared, which can target to the dendritic cells (DCs) via dendritic cell-specific intercellular-adhesion-molecule-grabbing non-integrin (DC-SIGN). In addition, the DCs were loaded with the complex, and then were utilized to immunize mice to detect the immune response. Our data demonstrated that the modified DCs could enhance the specific IFN-γ production and cytotoxic T cell response. Furthermore, the modified DCs could also significantly suppress the established tumor growth and prolong the life span of tumor-bearing mice. Therefore, the Lewis X oligosaccharides-heparanase complex might be regarded as an ideal vaccine, and represent a novel way for the therapeutical strategy of tumor.

A novel vaccine containing EphA2 epitope and LIGHT plasmid induces robust cellular immunity against glioma U251 cells.

EphA2 is a receptor tyrosine kinase and can be acted as an attractive antigen for glioma vaccines. In addition, LIGHT plays an important role on enhancing T cell proliferation and cytokine production. To improve the CTL mediated immune response against glioma cells, we prepared the novel vaccine containing EphA2(883-891) peptide (TLADFDPRV) and LIGHT plasmid and utilized it to immunize the HLA-A2 transgenic HHD mice. In addition, trimera mice were immunized with the novel vaccine to elicit the antitumor immune response. The results demonstrated that the novel vaccine could induce robust cellular immunity against glioma U251 cells without lysing autologous lymphocytes. Moreover, the novel vaccine could significantly inhibit the tumor growth and prolong the life span of tumor bearing mice. These findings suggested that the novel vaccine containing EphA2 epitope and LIGHT plasmid could induce anti-tumor immunity against U251 cells expressing EphA2, and provided a promising strategy for glioma immunotherapy.

Autophagy Promotes Microglia Activation Through Beclin-1-Atg5 Pathway in Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Previous study demonstrates that intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) promotes microglia activation and inflammation. However, the exact mechanism of microglia activation induced by ICH is not clear. In this experiment, microglia autophagy was examined using electron microscopy, conversion of light chain 3(LC3), and monodansylcadaverine (MDC) staining to detect autophagic vacuoles. We found that ICH induced microglia autophagy and activation. The suppression of autophagy using either pharmacologic inhibitors (3-methyladenine, bafilomycin A1) or RNA interference in essential autophagy genes (BECN1 and ATG5) decreased the microglia activation and inflammation in ICH. Moreover, autophagy inhibitors reduced brain damage in ICH. In conclusion, these data indicate that ICH contributes to microglia autophagic activation through BECN1 and ATG5 and provide the therapeutical strategy for ICH.

Hemoglobin enhances miRNA-144 expression and autophagic activation mediated inflammation of microglia via mTOR pathway.

Intracerebral hemorrhage promotes autophagic activation of microglia and enhances neuroinflammation. MiRNAs are key factors to autophagy, contributed to negatively and posttranscriptionally regulate gene expression and function. However, the specific miRNAs involved in the intracerebral hemorrhage mediated microglia autophagic activation are unidentified. In this experiment, microglia was treated with hemoglobin. And then, miRNA-144 expression, autophagic activation and inflammation of microglia were detected. In addition, the mTOR target of miRNA-144 and its regulation were identified. Our data demonstrated that hemoglobin promoted miRNA-144 expression and autophagic activation mediated inflammation. Additionally, miRNA-144 targeted mTOR by directly interacting with the 3' untranslated regions (UTRs), mutations of the binding sites abolish the miRNA-144 responsiveness. Overexpression of mTOR decreased autophagic activation and inflammation of microglia. Therefore, our results suggested that miRNA-144 contributed to hemoglobin mediated autophagic activation and inflammation of microglia via mTOR pathway. And miRNA based treatment provided novel therapeutical strategy for intracerebral hemorrhage.

C5a/C5aR Pathway Plays a Vital Role in Brain Inflammatory Injury via Initiating Fgl-2 in Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a serious emergency with high mortality and morbidity. Up to date, a limited understanding of ICH pathogenesis is difficult to implement effective therapeutic strategy. Much evidence demonstrates that the complement cascade is activated after experimental ICH. However, the exact mechanism has not been well studied in ICH. In the current study, C57BL/6J mice were injected with autologous whole blood. C5a/C5aR levels, microglia infiltration, inflammatory cytokine, and fibrinogen-like protein 2 (Fgl-2) expression in the perihematomal region were analyzed following ICH. In addition, brain water content and neurological dysfunction were detected following ICH. Our data demonstrated that ICH induced complement activation, along with an increase of C5a/C5aR levels, microglia infiltration, and inflammatory cytokine levels. However, C5aR-/- mice exhibited significant attenuation of inflammatory reaction, accompanied by a remarkable reduction of Fgl-2, brain water content, and neurological dysfunction. Furthermore, inhibiting extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and p38 efficiently inhibited C5a-mediated Fgl-2 production following ICH. Taken together, these data suggest that C5a/C5aR plays a vital role in the ICH-induced inflammatory damage via Fgl-2, and ERK1/2 and p38 pathways also are involved in the pathogenesis of ICH. Therefore, inhibition of C5a/C5aR activation might enlarge our insights in ICH therapy.

Programmed death (PD)-1 attenuates macrophage activation and brain inflammation via regulation of fibrinogen-like protein 2 (Fgl-2) after intracerebral hemorrhage in mice.

Neuroinflammation plays an important role in the recovery of brain injury in ICH. Macrophage is the major executor in the neuroinflammation and initiates neurological defects. Programmed death 1 (PD-1) delivers inhibitory signals that regulate the balance between T cell activation, tolerance, and immunopathology. PD-1 expression by macrophages plays a pathologic role in the innate inflammatory response. However, the exact role of PD-1 on inflammatory responses following ICH has not been well identified. In this experiment, PD-1 KO (PD-1 -/-) ICH mice and Wild-type (WT) ICH mice were caused by intracranial injection of type IV collagenase. The level of macrophage activation, inflammatory cytokines and fibrinogen-like protein 2 (Fgl-2) were detected using immunofluorescence staining and ELISA assays. In addition, brain edema and neurological scores of ICH mice were also measured. Our data demonstrated that ICH promoted PD-1 expression of macrophage and enhanced inflammatory cytokines and Fgl-2 concentrations. PD-1 -/- mice exhibited significantly higher expression of the inflammatory cytokines which initiate Fgl-2, than did their wild-type (WT) littermates. As a result, macrophage activation, cerebral edema and neurological deficit scores of PD-1 -/- mice were higher. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that PD-1 plays a vital role in brain inflammation via regulation of Fgl-2 after ICH, and that manipulation of PD-1 might be a promising therapeutical target in ICH.

MicroRNA-223 regulates inflammation and brain injury via feedback to NLRP3 inflammasome after intracerebral hemorrhage.

NLRP3 inflammasome, the multimeric protein complexes involved in the processing of IL-1ß through Caspase-1 cleavage, facilitates the inflammatory response. The control and activation of NLRP3 after intracerebral hemorrhage have not been fully studied. In the current study, we explore the specific microRNA which could regulate the NLRP3 inflammasome and inflammation after intracerebral hemorrhage. We detected the inverse relationship between the expression of miR-223 and NLRP3. We found that NLRP3 mRNA contains conserved miR-223 binding sites in its 3' UTR, and miR-223 could directly regulate NLRP3 expression through these 3' UTR sites. Our results indicate that miR-223 could downregulate NLRP3 to inhibit inflammation through caspase-1 and IL-1ß, reduce brain edema and improve neurological functions. Together, miR-223 may be a vital regulator of NLRP3 inflammasome activation. The results suggest that miR-223 represents a novel target reducing the inflammatory response, and offers a new therapeutical strategy following ICH.

miR-203 protects microglia mediated brain injury by regulating inflammatory responses via feedback to MyD88 in ischemia.

Much evidence demonstrates that microglia mediated inflammatory responses play an important role in brain injury in ischemia. miRNA is the important factor in regulation of inflammation. However, the effect of miRNA in microglia mediated inflammatory responses has not been well studied. In the study, we demonstrate that miR-203 negatively regulates ischemia induced microglia activation by targeting MyD88, an important adapter protein involved in most Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R) pathways. Through negative feedback, enforced expression of miR-203 or MyD88 siRNA silencing inhibits downstream NF-κß signaling and microglia activation, thereby alleviating neuronal injury. These findings reveal that miR-203 represents a novel target regulating neuroinflammation and brain injury, thus offering a new therapeutical strategy for cerebral hypoxic diseases.

Adenovirus encoding Smad4 suppresses glioma cell proliferation and increases apoptosis through cell cycle arrest at G1 phase.

Mothers against decapentaplegic homologue 4 (Smad4) is associated with several human cancers. However, the exact mechanism of Smad4 in human glioma is still unknown. In this study, we constructed a recombinant adenovirus encoding Smad4 and transduced it into glioma cells. The results demonstrated that the overexpression of Smad4 not only suppressed glioma cell proliferation but also increased cell apoptosis by promoting cell cycle arrest at G1 phase. Furthermore, an adenovirus encoding Smad4 suppressed tumor formation in nude mice. These findings clearly demonstrate that Smad4 plays an important role in human glioma development by regulating cell proliferation. Moreover, Smad4 may represent a potential therapeutic target in glioma.

Scavenger receptor SRA attenuates microglia activation and protects neuroinflammatory injury in intracerebral hemorrhage.

Microglia mediated neuroinflammation plays a crucial role in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Therefore, the negative feedback immune mechanism to keep microglia homeostasis and inhibit the related inflammatory injury is important. Scavenger receptor A (SRA), a pattern recognition molecule, is a physiologic negative regulator of immune consequences. However, its role in microglia mediated immune response has not been well defined. In this study, we detected SRA expression and inflammatory response of microglia treated with erythrocyte lysate in vitro, and observed the cerebral water content and neurological deficit of ICH mice in vivo. We found that SRA was highly expressed in erythrocyte lysate treated microglia. Interestingly, genetic SRA ablation increased microglia activation and cytokine production, and sensitized mice to ICH induced neuron injury. In addition, we adoptive transferred microglia (WT) into ICH mice (SRA-/-), and found that the ICH-induced inflammation injury was effectively ameliorated. Therefore, the results demonstrated that SRA could attenuate microglia mediated inflammation injury in ICH. In addition, SRA mediated negative feedback mechanism in neuroimmune homeostasis might provide a novel therapeutical strategy for ICH. Scavenger receptor SRA restrains T cell activation and protects against concanavalin A-induced hepatic injury.