Multi-protein complexes, termed "inflammasomes," are known to contribute to neuronal cell death and brain injury following ischemic stroke. Ischemic stroke increases the expression and activation of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) Pyrin domain containing 1 and 3 (NLRP1 and NLRP3) inflammasome proteins and both interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 in neurons. In this study, we provide evidence that activation of either the NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways was partly responsible for inducing the expression and activation of NLRP1 and NLRP3 inflammasome proteins and that these effects can be attenuated using pharmacological inhibitors of these two pathways in neurons and brain tissue under in vitro and in vivo ischemic conditions, respectively. Moreover, these findings provided supporting evidence that treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) preparation can reduce activation of the NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways resulting in decreased expression and activation of NLRP1 and NLRP3 inflammasomes, as well as increasing expression of anti-apoptotic proteins, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, in primary cortical neurons and/or cerebral tissue under in vitro and in vivo ischemic conditions. In summary, these results provide compelling evidence that both the NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways play a pivotal role in regulating the expression and activation of NLRP1 and NLRP3 inflammasomes in primary cortical neurons and brain tissue under ischemic conditions. In addition, treatment with IVIg preparation decreased the activation of the NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways, and thus attenuated the expression and activation of NLRP1 and NLRP3 inflammasomes in primary cortical neurons under ischemic conditions. Hence, these findings suggest that therapeutic interventions that target inflammasome activation in neurons may provide new opportunities in the future treatment of ischemic stroke.

J. Neurochem. (2012) 122, 321–332. Abstract Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) preparations obtained by fractionating blood plasma, are increasingly being used increasingly as an effective therapeutic agent in treatment of several inflammatory diseases. Its use as a potential therapeutic agent for treatment of stroke and Alzheimer’s disease has been proposed, but little is known about the neuroprotective mechanisms of IVIg. In this study, we investigated the effect of IVIg on downstream signaling pathways that are involved in neuronal cell death in experimental models of stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. Treatment of cultured neurons with IVIg reduced simulated ischemia‐ and amyloid βpeptide (Aβ)‐induced caspase 3 cleavage, and phosphorylation of the cell death‐associated kinases p38MAPK, c‐Jun NH2‐terminal kinase and p65, in vitro. Additionally, Aβ‐induced accumulation of the lipid peroxidation product 4‐hydroxynonenal was attenuated in neurons treated with IVIg. IVIg treatment also up‐regulated the anti‐apoptotic protein, Bcl2 in cortical neurons under ischemia‐like conditions and exposure to Aβ. Treatment of mice with IVIg reduced neuronal cell loss, apoptosis and infarct size, and improved functional outcome in a model of focal ischemic stroke. Together, these results indicate that IVIg acts directly on neurons to protect them against ischemic stroke and Aβ‐induced neuronal apoptosis by inhibiting cell death pathways and by elevating levels of the anti‐apoptotic protein Bcl2.

BackgroundIschemic stroke causes a high rate of deaths and permanent neurological damage in survivors. Ischemic stroke triggers the release of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) such as high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), which activate toll-like receptors (TLRs) and receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) in the affected area, leading to an exaggerated inflammatory response and cell death. Both TLRs and RAGE are transmembrane pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) that have been shown to contribute to ischemic stroke-induced brain injury. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) preparations obtained by fractionating human blood plasma are increasingly being used as an effective therapeutic agent in the treatment of several inflammatory diseases. Its use as a potential therapeutic agent for treatment of stroke has been proposed, but little is known about the direct neuroprotective mechanisms of IVIg. We therefore investigate whether IVIg exerts its beneficial effects on the outcome of neuronal injury by modulating HMGB1-induced TLR and RAGE expressions and activations.MethodsPrimary cortical neurons were subjected to glucose deprivation or oxygen and glucose deprivation conditions and treated with IVIg and recombinant HMGB1. C57/BL6J mice were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion, followed by reperfusion, and IVIg was administered intravenously 3 h after the start of reperfusion. Expression of TLRs, RAGE and downstream signalling proteins in neurons and brain tissues were evaluated by immunoblot.ResultsTreatment of cultured neurons with IVIg reduced simulated ischemia-induced TLR2, TLR4, TLR8 and RAGE expressions, pro-apoptotic caspase-3 cleavage and phosphorylation of the cell death-associated kinases such as c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) as well as the p65 subunit of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). These results were recapitulated in an in vivo model of stroke. IVIg treatment also upregulated the anti-apoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) in cortical neurons under ischemic conditions. Finally, IVIg protected neurons against HMGB1-induced neuronal cell death by modulating TLR and RAGE expressions and signalling pathways.ConclusionsTaken together, these results provide a rationale for the potential use of IVIg to target inappropriately activated components of the innate immune system following ischemic stroke.

Genetic changes due to dietary intervention in the form of either calorie restriction (CR) or intermittent fasting (IF) are not reported in detail until now. However, it is well established that both CR and IF extend the lifespan and protect against neurodegenerative diseases and stroke. The current research aims were first to describe the transcriptomic changes in brains of IF mice and, second, to determine whether IF induces extensive transcriptomic changes following ischemic stroke to protect the brain from injury. Mice were randomly assigned to ad libitum feeding (AL), 12 (IF12) or 16 (IF16) h daily fasting. Each diet group was then subjected to sham surgery or middle cerebral artery occlusion and consecutive reperfusion. Mid-coronal sections of ipsilateral cerebral tissue were harvested at the end of the 1 h ischemic period or at 3, 12, 24 or 72 h of reperfusion, and genome-wide mRNA expression was quantified by RNA sequencing. The cerebral transcriptome of mice in AL group exhibited robust, sustained up-regulation of detrimental genetic pathways under ischemic stroke, but activation of these pathways was suppressed in IF16 group. Interestingly, the cerebral transcriptome of AL mice was largely unchanged during the 1 h of ischemia, whereas mice in IF16 group exhibited extensive up-regulation of genetic pathways involved in neuroplasticity and down-regulation of protein synthesis. Our data provide a genetic molecular framework for understanding how IF protects brain cells against damage caused by ischemic stroke, and reveal cellular signaling and bioenergetic pathways to target in the development of clinical interventions.