NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated microglial pyroptosis is critically involved in the development of post-cardiac arrest brain injury
Open Access
- 23 July 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Journal of Neuroinflammation
- Vol. 17 (1), 1-21
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-020-01879-1
Abstract
Background Brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in survivors of cardiac arrest, where neuroinflammation is believed to play a pivotal role, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Pyroptosis is a pro-inflammatory form of programmed cell death that triggers inflammatory response upon infection or other stimuli. This study aims to understand the role of microglial pyroptosis in post-cardiac arrest brain injury. Methods Sprague-Dawley male rats underwent 10-min asphyxial cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation or sham-operation. Flow cytometry analysis, Western blotting, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), co-immunoprecipitation, and immunofluorescence were used to evaluate activated microglia and CD11b-positive leukocytes after cardiac arrest and assess inflammasome activation and pyroptosis of specific cellular populations. To further explore the underlying mechanism, MCC950 or Ac-YVAD-cmk was administered to block nod-like receptor family protein 3 (NLRP3) or caspase-1, respectively. Results Our results showed that, in a rat model, successful resuscitation from cardiac arrest resulted in microglial pyroptosis and consequential inflammatory infiltration which was mediated by the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome. Targeting NLRP3 and caspase-1, the executor of pyroptosis, with selective inhibitors MCC950 and Ac-YVAD-cmk treatment significantly prevented microglial pyroptosis, reduced infiltration of leukocytes, improved neurologic outcome, and alleviated neuro-pathological damages after cardiac arrest in modeling rats. Conclusions This study demonstrates that microglial pyroptosis mediated by NLRP3 inflammasome is critically involved in the pathogenesis of post-cardiac arrest brain injury and provides a new therapeutic strategy.Funding Information
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (81871030)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (81701294)
- Guangzhou Science and Technology Planning Project (201804010055)
- National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFC1307501)
- Outstanding Youths Development Scheme of Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University (2016J005)
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