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BackgroundSpinal cord ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury causes inflammation and subsequently increases blood-spinal cord barrier leakage and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathway activation. MicroRNAs (miRs) effectively regulate numerous target mRNAs during ischemia. However, their roles during IR injury are poorly understood. We investigated miRs involvement, particularly miR-27a, in TLR4 pathway-mediated inflammatory responses after IR.MethodWe used a genomics approach to examine changed miRs of rats that had undergone 14 minutes of ischemia, followed by 24 or 72 hours of reperfusion. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to identify and confirm the miRs involved in regulating TLR4 pathway activation. We scanned miR databases for potential miR targets and confirmed these targets by quantitative RT-PCR. The miR mimic and anti-miR oligonucleotides (AMOs) were intrathecally injected at 12-hour intervals beginning three days before the ischemia. The effects of miRs on the TLR4 pathway and downstream cytokines were analyzed by PCR, western blotting, and ELISA. Double immunofluorescence staining was perfumed to determine the relationship between the targets and TLR4. Blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) permeability was examined using Evans blue (EB) dye.ResultsA microarray analysis revealed that at 24 hours post-injury, three miRs were upregulated (>2.0 fold) and 15 miRs were downregulated (<0.5 fold), and at 72 hours, four miRs were upregulated and 14 were downregulated compared to their levels in sham-operated controls. We focused on miR-27a, which is predicted to contain sequences complementary to the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of Toll-like receptor adaptor molecule 2 (TICAM-2). Double immunostaining indicated that TLR4 activation correlated with changes in TICAM-2 expression. Compared to the rats in the IR and negative control groups, intrathecal infusion of the miR-27a mimic attenuated IR-induced TLR4 activation and inflammatory damage to the BSCB, which was shown as decreased EB extravasation and lower levels of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and lnterleukin (IL)-1β at 24 and 72 hours after reperfusion, whereas pretreatment with miR-27a AMO aggravated these injuries.ConclusionsWe present the first evidence that miRs play an important role in spinal cord IR injury. We identified TICAM-2 as a novel target of miR-27a. miR-27a upregulation attenuates IR-induced inflammatory damage to the BSCB by negatively regulating TICAM-2 of the TLR4 signaling pathway and inhibiting the NF-κB/IL-1β pathway. These results provide new therapeutic targets for IR injury treatment.

BackgroundSpinal cord ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) involves two-phase injury, including an initial acute ischemic insult and subsequent inflammatory reperfusion injury, resulting in blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) dysfunction involving the TLR4 pathway. However, the correlation between TLR4/MyD88-dependent and TLR4/TRIF-dependent pathways in BSCB dysfunction is not fully understood. The aim of this study is to characterize inflammatory responses in spinal cord I/R and the events that define its clinical progression with delayed neurological deficits, supporting a bimodal mechanism of injury.MethodsRats were intrathecally pretreated with TAK-242, MyD88 inhibitory peptide, or Resveratrol at a 12 h interval for 3 days before undergoing 14-minute occlusion of aortic arch. Evan’s Blue (EB) extravasation and water content were detected at 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 72 h after reperfusion. EB extravasation, water content, and NF-κB activation were increased with time after reperfusion, suggesting a bimodal distribution, as maximal increasing were detected at both 12 and 48 h after reperfusion. The changes were directly proportional to TLR4 levels determined by Western blot. Double-labeled immunohistochemical analysis was also used to detect the relationship between different cell types of BSCB with TLR4. Furthermore, NF-κB and IL-1β were analyzed at 12 and 48 h to identify the correlation between MyD88-dependent and TRIF-dependent pathways.ResultsRats without functional TLR4 and MyD88 attenuated BSCB leakage and inflammatory responses at 12 h, suggesting the ischemic event was largely mediated by MyD88-dependent pathway. Similar protective effects observed in rats with depleted TLR4, MyD88, and TRIF receptor at 48 h infer that the ongoing inflammation which occurred in late phase was mainly initiated by TRIF-dependent pathway and such inflammatory response could be further amplified by MyD88-dependent pathway. Additionally, microglia appeared to play a major role in early phase of inflammation after I/R injury, while in late responding phase both microglia and astrocytes were necessary.ConclusionsThese findings indicate the relevance of TLR4/MyD88-dependent and TLR4/TRIF-dependent pathways in bimodal phases of inflammatory responses after I/R injury, corresponding with the clinical progression of injury and delayed onset of symptoms. The clinical usage of TLR4 signaling inhibitors at different phases may be a therapeutic option for the prevention of delayed injury.

BackgroundInflammatory reaction in blood–spinal cord barrier (BSCB) plays a crucial role in ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. It has been shown that microglia could be activated through Toll-like receptors (TLRs). Therefore, we hypothesize that TLR4 is involved in the microglial activation and BSCB disruption after I/R.ResultsTo verify our hypothesis, we analyzed the behavioral data, changes of BSCB permeability, as well as expressions of microglial marker Iba-1 and TLR4 in spinal cord I/R model induced by 14 min aortic occlusion. Double immunostaining reveals that after I/R, Iba-1 immunoreactivity increased gradually 12 h after reperfusion and maintained at a such level throughout 36 h. Such increasing pattern of Iba-1 expression is consistent with the increases in Evan’s Blue (EB) extravasation, spinal water content and mechanical allodynia demonstrated by lowed withdrawal threshold to Von Frey filaments. Moreover, double immunostaining suggested that TLR4 was highly expressed in microglia. Intrathecal infusion of minocycline and TAK-242 (TLR4 inhibitor) treatment attenuated I/R-induced allodynia and BSCB leakage. In contrast, LPS induced TLR4 expression aggregated above-mentioned injuries. Furthermore, the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activity has a similar profile as TLR4 activity. It is consisted with the results of NF-κB mRNA and protein expression changes and activation of downstream cytokine, IL-1β. Expectedly, intrathecal infusion of pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), a NF-κB inhibitor, showed similar protective effects as minocycline and TAK-242. In addition, our data show that TLR4 closely involved in I/R-induced inflammatory damage induced neuronal apoptosis. Significantly, neutralizing TLR4 function largely reduced neuronal apoptosis determined by NeuN immunoreactivity in ventral gray matter and increased percentage of double-label cells with cleaved caspase3, whereas LPS reversed these effects. Similarly, inhibitions of microglia and NF-κB with minocycline or PDTC treatment accordingly perform the same protective effects on I/R injury.ConclusionThe results indicate that compromised BSCB caused by I/R injury lead to spinal microglial activation and TLR4, its membrane-bound receptor, up-regulation, which then initiate neuro-inflammation and neuro-apoptosis via NF-κB/ IL-1β pathway. To inhibit the positive feedback loop of TLR4-microglia-NF-κB/ IL-1β pathway by minocycline, TAK-242 (TLR4 inhibitor) and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC, NF-κB inhibitor) may provide new targets for treating I/R injury in clinic.

BackgroundIschemia-reperfusion (IR) affects microRNA (miR) expression and causes substantial inflammation. Multiple roles of the tumor suppressor miR-129-5p in cerebral IR have recently been reported, but its functions in the spinal cord are unclear. Here, we investigated the role of miR-129-5p after spinal cord IR, particularly in regulating high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) and the Toll-like receptor (TLR)-3 pathway.MethodsIschemia was induced via 5-min occlusion of the aortic arch. The relationship between miR-129-5p and HMGB1 was elucidated via RT-PCR, western blotting, and luciferase assays. The cellular distribution of HMGB1 was determined via double immunofluorescence. The effect of miR-129-5p on the expression of HMGB1, TLR3, and downstream cytokines was evaluated using synthetic miRs, rHMGB1, and the TLR3 agonist Poly(I:C). Blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) permeability was examined by measuring Evans blue (EB) dye extravasation and the water content.ResultsThe temporal miR-129-5p and HMGB1 expression profiles and luciferase assay results indicated that miR-129-5p targeted HMGB1. Compared with the Sham group, the IR group had higher HMGB1 immunoreactivity, which was primarily distributed in neurons and microglia. Intrathecal injection of the miR-129-5p mimic significantly decreased the HMGB1, TLR3, interleukin (IL)-1β and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α levels and the double-labeled cell count 48 h post-surgery, whereas rHMGB1 and Poly(I:C) reversed these effects. Injection of miR-129-5p mimic preserved motor function and prevented BSCB leakage based on increased Basso Mouse Scale scores and decreased EB extravasation and water content, whereas injection rHMGB1 and Poly(I:C) aggravated these injuries.ConclusionsIncreasing miR-129-5p levels protect against IR by ameliorating inflammation-induced neuronal and BCSB damage by inhibiting HMGB1 and TLR3-associated cytokines.

BackgroundMicroglia are the primary immune cells of the spinal cord that are activated in response to ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury and release various neurotrophic and/or neurotoxic factors to determine neuronal survival. Among them, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), which cleaves various components of the extracellular matrix in the basal lamina and functions as part of the blood spinal cord barrier (BSCB), is considered important for regulating inflammatory responses and microenvironmental homeostasis of the BSCB in the pathology of ischemia. Sevoflurane has been reported to protect against neuronal apoptosis during cerebral IR. However, the effects of sevoflurane preconditioning on spinal cord IR injury remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of sevoflurane on potential genetic roles of microglial MMP-9 in tight junction protein breakdown, opening of the BSCB, and subsequent recruitment of microglia to apoptotic spinal cord neurons.ResultsThe results showed significant upregulation of MMP-9 in rats with IR-induced inflammation of the BSCB compared to that of the sham group, manifested as dysfunctional BSCB with increased Evans blue extravasation and reduced expression of occludin protein. Increased MMP-9 expression was also observed to facilitate invasion and migration of activated microglia, imaging as high Iba-1 expression, clustered to neurons in the injured spinal cord, as shown by double immunofluorescence, and increased proinflammatory chemokine production (CXCL10, CCL2). Further, sevoflurane preconditioning markedly improved motor function by ameliorating neuronal apoptosis, as shown by reduced TUNEL-positive cell counts and expression of cleaved caspase-3. These protective effects were probably responsible for downregulation of MMP-9 and maintenance of normal expression of occludin protein indicating BSCB integrity from inflammatory damage, which was confirmed by decreased protein levels of Iba-1 and MMP-9, as well as reduced production of proinflammatory chemokines (CXCL10, CCL2) and proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β). Intrathecal injection of specific siRNAs targeting MMP-9 had similar protective effects to those of sevoflurane preconditioning.ConclusionsPreconditioning with 2.4% sevoflurane attenuated spinal cord IR injury by inhibiting recruitment of microglia and secretion of MMP-9; thus inhibiting downstream effects on inflammatory damage to BSCB integrity and neuronal apoptosis.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13041-014-0069-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Our results indicate that tau phosphorylation is not a direct result of anaesthesia per se, but it is due to anaesthesia-induced hypothermia and this leads to the inhibition of phosphatase activity as well as tau hyperphosphorylation. Tau hyperphosphorylation is associated with the observed deficits in spatial learning and memory following anaesthesia in hypothermic rats.