cGAS-STING signaling regulates control of microglia polarization in cerebral ischemic stroke
Abstract Background Cerebral ischemic stroke is a highly debilitating disease, in which inflammation is well document to play a pivotal role in its pathophysiology. Microglia are the the major immuncompetent cells of the brain involved in different neuropathologies. Recent discovery of cyclic GMP-AMP synthase(cGAS) activation and its induction of the downstream signaling protein stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is increasingly recognized as a crucial determinant of neuropathophysiology. Although cGAS-STING pathway has been reported to play an important role in inflammatory response in myocardial infarction (MI), its mechanism in inflammatory response in ischemic stroke (IS) has remained to be fully explored.Methods In light of the above, this study sought to explore the roles of cGAS-STING pathway in inflammatory reaction in IS. It is hoped that the results would provide new insights for designing of therapeutic strategies targeting at IS. We used HT22 cells to establish an oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) cell model. The supernatant derived from this and which contained OGD-induced DAMPs(OIDs) was used to stimulate the BV2 microglia. Additionally, we used siRNA technology to interfere with cGAS gene expression to observe changes in downstream cytokines. Furthermore, we established middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) mouse model and performed cGAS-siRNA lentivirus infection to further elucidate the mechanism of cGAS-STING pathway in vivo.Results We show here that OIDs strongly activated the cGAS-STING pathway and triggered accumulation of a plethora of proinflammatory factors in activated Microglia. Of note, the cascade reaction was successfully inhibited by cGAS-siRNA. Furthermore, we extended the study of cGAS-STING in a mouse MCAO model, which showed that inhibiting cGAS-STING pathway can effectively diminish MIDs(MCAO-induced DAMPs)-induced neuronal apoptosis and ultimately functional improvement.Conclusion The present results have shown GAS-STING signaling pathway controls the polarity transformation of microglia. The underlying mechanisms of cGAS-STING triggering microglial inflammatory response is now better clarified which made the pathway a potential therapeutic target of IS.