Exosome derived from mesenchymal stem cells enhance autophagy and inhibit iNOS/TXNIP/NLRP3 inflammasome axis in injured spinal cord

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Lv ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Anquan Huang ◽  
Tianming Zou ◽  
Jishan Yuan

Abstract Background: Neuroinflammation, autophagy, NLRP3 inflammasome, and microglia polarizationhave been implicated in spinal cord injury (SCI).Moreover, exosomes, a classic nanovesicles secreted by MSCs, may have a neuroprotective effect on transformation of microglia from the M1 state to the M2 phenotype. However, the effect of MSCs derived exosomes on neuroinflammation is still unclear. Here, we investigated the mechanisms of MSCs derived exosomes mediated NLRP3 inflammasome signaling cascades and its protective effects in SCI. Methods:The SCI model was performed by weight-drop impact in adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Control andexosome rats were randomly subjecttoexosomeadminister (20 mg/kg) or placebo via intraperitoneal route 1 h after SCI.Autophagy inhibitor(3-MA) was administered intraperitoneally 20 min before experiment.Neurological function was measured by Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) scoring and an open-field test.Neuronal death was measured by HE stainingandNisslstaining.Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) levels were determined using fluorescent probes. The autophagy and TXNIP and its downstream signaling pathways-mediated polarization of macrophages/microglia was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Results:Exosome significantly downregulated intracellular iNOS and inhibited TXNIP, pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome pathway activation by activating autophagy. Additionally, Exosomepromoted expression of autophagy markers, such as LC3A/B and beclin1,and abrogated the expression of p62. Autophagy inhibitor, 3-MA, blockage of autophagy flux abolished the inhibition of apoptosis and iNOS/TXNIP/NLRP3 inflammasome axisafterSCI. Here, we demonstrated that exosomeadministration in spinal cord markedly reduced tissue loss, attenuate pathological morphology of the injuredregion, and promoted tissue recovery. Moreover. our resultshowed that exosome administration alleviated neuronal cells apoptosis, and inhibited nitric oxide release in microglia.The activation of inflammatoryresponse in neuronal cells facilitates interactions of iNOS‐NLRP3 andTXNIP‐NLRP3and inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome where neuronal cells apoptosis was induced.Further, we found that exosome could suppress macrophages/microglia polarized to M1 phenotype in vivo and in vitro.Taken together, exosome administration exerts protective effects in neuronal cells through inhibiting iNOS production, and exosome administration could inhibit iNOS/TXNIP/NLRP3 inflammasome axis via enhancing autophagy and both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions:These resultsreveal that exosometreatment alleviatedneuroinflammation and mitigates neuronal apoptosis via autophagy-mediate inhibition of the iNOS/TXNIP/NLRP3 inflammasome axis. Our findings suggest that exosome may be a novel therapeutic target for treating SCI.

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng-Yu Cui ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Zhi-Ming Cui ◽  
Hong Yi ◽  
Da-Wei Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Spinal cord injury (SCI) is associated with health burden both at personal and societal levels. Recent assessments on the role of lncRNAs in SCI regulation have matured. Therefore, to comprehensively explore the function of lncRNA LEF1-AS1 in SCI, there is an urgent need to understand its occurrence and development. Methods Using in vitro experiments, we used lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to treat and establish the SCI model primarily on microglial cells. Gain- and loss of function assays of LEF1-AS1 and miR-222-5p were conducted. Cell viability and apoptosis of microglial cells were assessed via CCK8 assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Adult Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into four groups: Control, SCI, sh-NC, and sh-LEF-AS1 groups. ELISA test was used to determine the expression of TNF-α and IL-6, whereas the protein level of apoptotic-related markers (Bcl-2, Bax, and cleaved caspase-3) was assessed using Western blot technique. Results We revealed that LncRNA LEF1-AS1 was distinctly upregulated, whereas miR-222-5p was significantly downregulated in LPS-treated SCI and microglial cells. However, LEF1-AS1 knockdown enhanced cell viability, inhibited apoptosis, as well as inflammation of LPS-mediated microglial cells. On the contrary, miR-222-5p upregulation decreased cell viability, promoted apoptosis, and inflammation of microglial cells. Mechanistically, LEF1-AS1 served as a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) by sponging miR-222-5p, targeting RAMP3. RAMP3 overexpression attenuated LEF1-AS1-mediated protective effects on LPS-mediated microglial cells from apoptosis and inflammation. Conclusion In summary, these findings ascertain that knockdown of LEF1-AS1 impedes SCI progression via the miR-222-5p/RAMP3 axis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Xing Li ◽  
Dan Luo ◽  
Yu Hou ◽  
Yonghui Hou ◽  
Shudong Chen ◽  
...  

Spinal cord microcirculation involves functioning endothelial cells at the blood spinal cord barrier (BSCB) and maintains normal functioning of spinal cord neurons, axons, and glial cells. Protection of both the function and integrity of endothelial cells as well as the prevention of BSCB disruption may be a strong strategy for the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI) cases. Sodium Tanshinone IIA silate (STS) is used for the treatment of coronary heart disease and improves microcirculation. Whether STS exhibits protective effects for SCI microcirculation is not yet clear. The purpose of this study is to investigate the protective effects of STS on oxygen-glucose deprivation- (OGD-) induced injury of spinal cord endothelial cells (SCMECs) in vitro and to explore effects on BSCB and neurovascular protection in vivo. SCMECs were treated with various concentrations of STS (1 μM, 3 μM, and 10 μM) for 24 h with or without OGD-induction. Cell viability, tube formation, migration, and expression of Notch signaling pathway components were evaluated. Histopathological evaluation (H&E), Nissl staining, BSCB permeability, and the expression levels of von Willebrand Factor (vWF), CD31, NeuN, and Notch signaling pathway components were analyzed. STS was found to improve SCMEC functions and reduce inflammatory mediators after OGD. STS also relieved histopathological damage, increased zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), inhibited BSCB permeability, rescued microvessels, protected motor neuromas, and improved functional recovery in a SCI model. Moreover, we uncovered that the Notch signaling pathway plays an important role during these processes. These results indicated that STS protects microcirculation in SCI, which may be used as a therapeutic strategy for SCI in the future.


Neurosciences ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Askin Hasturk ◽  
Erdal Yilmaz ◽  
Erhan Turkoglu ◽  
Murat Arikan ◽  
Guray Togral ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong-jun Zou ◽  
Shi-Wu Guo ◽  
Lin Zhu ◽  
Xu Xu ◽  
Jin-bo Liu

Traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) leads to pathological changes such as inflammation, edema, and neuronal apoptosis. Methylprednisolone (MP) is a glucocorticoid that has a variety of beneficial effects, including decreasing inflammation and ischemic reaction, as well as inhibiting lipid peroxidation. However, the efficacy and mechanism of MP in TSCI therapy is yet to be deciphered. In the present study, MP significantly attenuated the apoptotic effects of H2O2 in neuronal cells. Western blot analysis demonstrated that the levels of apoptotic related proteins, Bax and cleaved caspase-3, were reduced while levels of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 were increased. In vivo TUNEL assays further demonstrated that MP effectively protected neuronal cells from apoptosis after TSCI, and was consistent with in vitro studies. Furthermore, we demonstrated that MP could decrease expression levels of IBA1, Il-1α, TNFα, and C3 and suppress A1 neurotoxic reactive astrocyte activation in TSCI mouse models. Neurological function was evaluated using the Basso Mouse Scale (BMS) and Footprint Test. Results demonstrated that the neurological function of MP-treated injured mice was significantly increased. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that MP could attenuate astrocyte cell death, decrease microglia activation, suppress A1 astrocytes activation, and promote functional recovery after acute TSCI in mouse models.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jialong Qi ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Zhidong Zhang ◽  
Zongsheng Yin ◽  
Yiming Liu ◽  
...  

Study design: Spinal cord injury (SCI) rat model and cell model were established for in vivo and in vitro experiments. Functional assays were utilized to explore the role of the circRNAs derived from catenin beta 1 (mmu_circ_0001859, circ-Ctnnb1 herein) in regulating neuronal cell viability and apoptosis. Bioinformatics analysis and mechanism experiments were conducted to assess the underlying molecular mechanism of circ-Ctnnb1. Objective: We aimed to probe into the biological function of circ-Ctnnb1 in neuronal cells of SCI. Methods: The rat model of SCI and hypoxia-induced cell model were constructed to examine circ-Ctnnb1 expression in SCI through quantitative reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) score was utilized for evaluating the neurological function. Terminal-deoxynucleoitidyl Transferase Mediated Nick End labeling (TUNEL) assays were performed to assess the apoptosis of neuronal cells. RNase R and Actinomycin D (ActD) were used to treat cells to evaluate the stability of circ-Ctnnb1. Results: Circ-Ctnnb1 was highly expressed in SCI rat models and hypoxia-induced neuronal cells, and its deletion elevated the apoptosis rate of hypoxia-induced neuronal cells. Furthermore, circ-Ctnnb1 activated the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway via sponging mircoRNA-205-5p (miR-205-5p) to up-regulate Ctnnb1 and Wnt family member 2B (Wnt2b). Conclusion: Circ-Ctnnb1 promotes SCI through regulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling via modulating the miR-205-5p/Ctnnb1/Wnt2b axis.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergiy V. Kushchayev ◽  
Morgan B. Giers ◽  
Doris Hom Eng ◽  
Nikolay L. Martirosyan ◽  
Jennifer M. Eschbacher ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVE Spinal cord injury occurs in 2 phases. The initial trauma is followed by inflammation that leads to fibrous scar tissue, glial scarring, and cavity formation. Scarring causes further axon death around and above the injury. A reduction in secondary injury could lead to functional improvement. In this study, hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels were implanted into the gap formed in the hemisected spinal cord of Sprague-Dawley rats in an attempt to attenuate damage and regenerate tissue. METHODS A T-10 hemisection spinal cord injury was created in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats; the rats were assigned to a sham, control (phosphate-buffered saline), or HA hydrogel–treated group. One cohort of 23 animals was followed for 12 weeks and underwent weekly behavioral assessments. At 12 weeks, retrograde tracing was performed by injecting Fluoro-Gold in the left L-2 gray matter. At 14 weeks, the animals were killed. The volume of the lesion and the number of cells labeled from retrograde tracing were calculated. Animals in a separate cohort were killed at 8 or 16 weeks and perfused for immunohistochemical analysis and transmission electron microscopy. Samples were stained using H & E, neurofilament stain (neurons and axons), silver stain (disrupted axons), glial fibrillary acidic protein stain (astrocytes), and Iba1 stain (mononuclear cells). RESULTS The lesions were significantly smaller in size and there were more retrograde-labeled cells in the red nuclei of the HA hydrogel–treated rats than in those of the controls; however, the behavioral assessments revealed no differences between the groups. The immunohistochemical analyses revealed decreased fibrous scarring and increased retention of organized intact axonal tissue in the HA hydrogel–treated group. There was a decreased presence of inflammatory cells in the HA hydrogel–treated group. No axonal or neuronal regeneration was observed. CONCLUSIONS The results of these experiments show that HA hydrogel had a neuroprotective effect on the spinal cord by decreasing the magnitude of secondary injury after a lacerating spinal cord injury. Although regeneration and behavioral improvement were not observed, the reduction in disorganized scar tissue and the retention of neurons near and above the lesion are important for future regenerative efforts. In addition, this gel would be useful as the base substrate in the development of a more complex scaffold.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chai-Ching Lin ◽  
Tien-Huang Chiang ◽  
Yu-Yo Sun ◽  
Muh-Shi Lin

Background: Inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction have been linked to trauma, neurodegeneration, and aging. Impairment of CISD2 expression may trigger the aforementioned pathological conditions in neural cells. We previously reported that curcumin attenuates the downregulation of CISD2 in animal models of spinal cord injury and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated neuronal cells. In this study, we investigate (1) the role of CISD2 and (2) how curcumin regulates CISD2 in the aging process. Materials and methods: The serial expression of CISD2 and the efficacy of curcumin treatment were evaluated in old (104 weeks) mice and long-term cultures of neural cells (35 days in vitro, DIV). LPS-challenged neural cells (with or without siCISD2 transfection) were used to verify the role of curcumin on CISD2 underlying mitochondrial dysfunction. Results: In the brain and spinal cord of mice aged P2, 8, 25, and 104 weeks, we observed a significant decrease in CISD2 expression with age. Curcumin treatment in vivo and in vitro was shown to upregulate CISD2 expression; attenuate inflammatory response in neural cells. Moreover, curcumin treatment elevated CISD2 expression levels and prevented mitochondrial dysfunction in LPS-challenged neural cells. The beneficial effects of curcumin in either non-stressed or LPS-challenged cells that underwent siCISD2 transfection were significantly lower than in respective groups of cells that underwent scrambled siRNA-transfection. Conclusions: We hypothesize that the protective effects of curcumin treatment in reducing cellular inflammation associated trauma, degenerative, and aging processes can be partially attributed to elevated CISD2 expression. We observed a reduction in the protective effects of curcumin against injury-induced inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction in cells where CISD2 expression was reduced by siCISD2.


2004 ◽  
Vol 146 (12) ◽  
pp. 1329-1336 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Soy ◽  
Ö Aslan ◽  
H. Uzun ◽  
Ş. Barut ◽  
A. Akyildiz İğdem ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Wang ◽  
Haiyuan Yang ◽  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Minghao Shao ◽  
Haocheng Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundMicroglia pyroptosis-induced neuroinflammation has been one of the potential treatment targets for spinal cord injury (SCI). And melatonin is reported to have anti-neuroinflammation effect on SCI, but the underlying mechanism is largely unexplored. In addition, the potential regulatory role of stimulator of interferon genes (STING) mediated innate immune response in the SCI-induced neuroinflammation also remains unknown. The aim of this study is to identify the potential molecular mechanism of the anti-neuroinflammation effect of melatonin in SCI mice and to explore whether STING-mediated signal pathway is involved in this pharmacological process. MethodsIn vivo, the C57BL/6 female mice underwent SCI injury or Sham surgery (laminectomy alone). Melatonin and selective STING antagonist C-176 were administered intraperitoneally after injury in the SCI group once a day for 3 or 28 consecutive days for different experiments. The BMS score system was adopted to assess the motor function of mice. In vitro, the Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/ATP was combinedly used to induce cell pyroptosis in BV2 microglia and the adenovirus was used to overexpress STING. A series of molecular experiments including Western blot (WB), quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunofluorescence (IF) were performed in vivo and in vitro. ResultsOur results showed that melatonin effectively suppressed NLRP3 inflammasome-induced pyroptosis and STING-mediated pathway after SCI. In addition, C-176 also alleviated the NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis and promoted functional recovery in vivo. In vitro, we also found that melatonin abrogated NLRP3 inflammasome activation in LPS/ATP-induced BV2 cells, while overexpression of STING reversed the anti-pyroptotic role of melatonin. Subsequent results together indicated that the role of melatonin on STING-dependent NLRP3 inflammasome activation may be mediated by decreasing ROS production and cytosolic mtDNA release. ConclusionThis study preliminarily demonstrated that melatonin exerts its anti-neuroinflammation role on SCI by alleviating the NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis, which was mediated by blocking the ROS/mtDNA/STING pathway. It provides us a better understanding of the pathological mechanism after SCI and offer experiment evidence to promote the use of melatonin for SCI.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (20) ◽  
pp. 11012
Author(s):  
Yiyoung Kim ◽  
Eun Ji Roh ◽  
Hari Prasad Joshi ◽  
Hae Eun Shin ◽  
Hyemin Choi ◽  
...  

In research on various central nervous system injuries, bazedoxifene acetate (BZA) has shown two main effects: neuroprotection by suppressing the inflammatory response and remyelination by enhancing oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation and oligodendrocyte proliferation. We examined the effects of BZA in a rat spinal cord injury (SCI) model. Anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects were investigated in RAW 264.7 cells, and blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) permeability and angiogenesis were evaluated in a human brain endothelial cell line (hCMEC/D3). In vivo experiments were carried out on female Sprague Dawley rats subjected to moderate static compression SCI. The rats were intraperitoneally injected with either vehicle or BZA (1mg/kg pre-SCI and 3mg/kg for 7 days post-SCI) daily. BZA decreased the lipopolysaccharide-induced production of proinflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide in RAW 264.7 cells and preserved BSCB disruption in hCMEC/D3 cells. In the rats, BZA reduced caspase-3 activity at 1 day post-injury (dpi) and suppressed phosphorylation of MAPK (p38 and ERK) at dpi 2, hence reducing the expression of IL-6, a proinflammatory cytokine. BZA also led to remyelination at dpi 20. BZA contributed to improvements in locomotor recovery after compressive SCI. This evidence suggests that BZA may have therapeutic potential to promote neuroprotection, remyelination, and functional outcomes following SCI.


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