Previous attempts to identify neuroprotective targets by studying the ischemic cascade and devising ways to suppress it have failed to translate to efficacious therapies for acute ischemic stroke1. We hypothesized that studying the molecular determinants of endogenous neuroprotection in two well-established paradigms, the resistance of CA3 hippocampal neurons to global ischemia2 and the tolerance conferred by ischemic preconditioning (IPC)3, would reveal new neuroprotective targets. We found that the product of the tuberous sclerosis complex 1 gene (TSC1), hamartin, is selectively induced by ischemia in hippocampal CA3 neurons. In CA1 neurons, hamartin was unaffected by ischemia but was upregulated by IPC preceding ischemia, which protects the otherwise vulnerable CA1 cells. Suppression of hamartin expression with TSC1 shRNA viral vectors both in vitro and in vivo increased the vulnerability of neurons to cell death following oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) and ischemia. In vivo suppression of TSC1 expression increased locomotor activity and decreased habituation in a hippocampal-dependent task. Overexpression of hamartin increased resistance to OGD by inducing productive autophagy through an mTORC1-dependent mechanism.

Abstract:Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), a fibrin specific activator for the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin, stimulates thrombolysis and rescues ischemic brain by restoring blood flow. However, emerging data suggests that under some conditions, both tPA and plasmin, which are broad spectrum protease enzymes, are potentially neurotoxic if they reach the extracellular space. Animal models suggest that in severe ischemia with injury to the blood brain barrier (BBB) there is injury attributed to the protease effects of this exogenous tPA. Besides clot lysis per se, tPA may have pleiotropic actions in the brain, including direct vasoactivity, cleaveage of the N-methyl-Daspartate (NMDA) NR1 subunit, amplification of intracellular Ca ++ conductance, and activation of other extracellular proteases from the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family, e.g. MMP-9. These effects may increase excitotoxicity, further damage the BBB, and worsen edema and cerebral hemorrhage. If tPA is effective and reverses ischemia promptly, the BBB remains intact and exogenous tPA remains within the vascular space. If tPA is ineffective and ischemia is prolonged, there is the risk that exogenous tPA will injure both the neurovascular unit and the brain. Methods of neuroprotection, which prevent tPA toxicity or additional mechanical means to open cerebral vessels, are now needed.

Delayed but prolonged hypothermia persistently decreases cell death and functional deficits after global cerebral ischemia in rodents. Postischemic hypothermia also reduces infarction after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rat. Because initial neuroprotection is sometimes transient and may not subserve functional recovery, especially on demanding tasks, the authors examined whether postischemic cooling would persistently reduce infarction and forelimb reaching deficits after MCAO. Male spontaneously hypertensive rats were trained to retrieve food pellets in a staircase test that measures independent forelimb reaching ability. Later, rats underwent 90 minutes of normothermic MCAO, through a microclip, or sham operation. In some rats, prolonged cooling (33 degrees C for 24 hours and then 35 degrees C for 24 hours) began 2.5 hours after the onset of ischemia (60 minutes after the start of reperfusion; n = 17 with subsequently 1 death) or sham procedures (n = 4), whereas untreated sham (n = 4) and ischemic (n = 16 with subsequently 1 death) rats maintained normothermia. An indwelling abdominal probe continually measured core temperature, and an automated fan and water spray system was used to produce hypothermia. One month later rats were reassessed in the staircase test over five days and then killed. The contralateral limb impairment in food pellet retrieval was completely prevented by hypothermia (P = 0.0001). Hypothermia reduced an infarct volume of 67.5 mm3 after untreated ischemia to 35.8 mm3 (P < 0.0001). These findings of persistent benefit encourage the clinical assessment of hypothermia.

Background and Purpose-Studies show that blocking the activation of caspases by the caspase inhibitors z-VAD.FMK and z-DEVD.FMK can reduce ischemic neuronal injury after cerebral ischemia. Because the severity of ischemia was mild in some studies, we tested the efficacy of these caspase inhibitors on moderately severe but transient forebrain and focal ischemic insults in the rat. Methods-Various regimens of z-VAD, z-DEVD, and control DMSO were given to rats subjected to either 4-vessel occlusion ischemia (4-VO, 10-minute occlusion, 7-day survival) or distal middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo, 90-minute occlusion, 22.5-hour survival). In global ischemia, treatments were given immediately after ischemia (experiment 1) or as preischemic and postischemic treatments (experiment 2). Three focal ischemia experiments were done. Injection times were 60 minutes into ischemia (experiment 1) and 60 minutes into ischemia plus 30 and 120 minutes after ischemia (experiment 2). Experiment 3 was identical to experiment 2 except that a 30-minute preischemia treatment was instituted. Core normothermia was maintained in all experiments during ischemia. However, in the last focal and global experiments, core and brain temperatures, respectively, were also measured after ischemia with telemetry probes. Because hyperthermia accompanied z-DEVD treatment, an extra z-DEVD-treated group (MCAo) was included with temperature clamped at normothermia. Results-Neither z-VAD nor z-DEVD significantly reduced CA1 injury after global ischemia. In focal ischemia, both drugs significantly reduced infarction, but only in the third experiment, and the prevention of hyperthermia that accompanied z-DEVD treatment did not alter this. Conclusions-These