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Miao X, Lin J, Li A, Gao T, Liu T, Shen J, Sun Y, Wei J, Bao B, Zheng X. AAV-mediated VEGFA overexpression promotes angiogenesis and recovery of locomotor function following spinal cord injury via PI3K/Akt signaling. Exp Neurol 2024; 375:114739. [PMID: 38401852 DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2024.114739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a disorder of the central nervous system resulting from various factors such as trauma, inflammation, tumors, and other etiologies. This condition leads to impairment in motor, sensory, and autonomic functions below the level of injury. Limitations of current therapeutic approaches prompt an investigation into therapeutic angiogenesis through persistent local expression of proangiogenic factors. Here, we investigated whether overexpression of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) in mouse SCI promoted locomotor function recovery, and whether the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) pathway was mechanistically involved. Three weeks before SCI, AAV-VEGFA was injected at the T10 level to induce VEGFA overexpression. Neurofunctional, histological, and biochemical assessments were done to determine tissue damage and/or recovery of neuromuscular and behavioral impairments. Daily injections of the PI3K/Akt pathway inhibitor LY294002 were made to assess a possible mechanism. AAV-VEGFA overexpression dramatically improved locomotor function and ameliorated pathological injury caused by SCI. Improved motor-evoked potentials in hindlimbs and more spinal CD31-positive microvessels were observed in AAV-VEGFA-overexpressing mice. LY294002 reduced PI3K and Akt phosphorylation levels and attenuated AAV-VEGFA-related improvements. In conclusion, sustained local AAV-mediated VEGFA overexpression in spinal cord can significantly promote angiogenesis and ameliorate locomotor impairment after SCI in a contusion mouse model through activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Miao
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; National Center for Orthopaedics, Shanghai, China
| | - Junqing Lin
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; National Center for Orthopaedics, Shanghai, China
| | - Ang Li
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; National Center for Orthopaedics, Shanghai, China
| | - Tao Gao
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; National Center for Orthopaedics, Shanghai, China
| | - Tiexin Liu
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; National Center for Orthopaedics, Shanghai, China
| | - Junjie Shen
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; National Center for Orthopaedics, Shanghai, China
| | - Yi Sun
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; National Center for Orthopaedics, Shanghai, China
| | - Jiabao Wei
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; National Center for Orthopaedics, Shanghai, China
| | - Bingbo Bao
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; National Center for Orthopaedics, Shanghai, China
| | - Xianyou Zheng
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; National Center for Orthopaedics, Shanghai, China.
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Inhibition of Neural Stem Cell Necroptosis Mediated by RIPK1/MLKL Promotes Functional Recovery After SCI. Mol Neurobiol 2023; 60:2135-2149. [PMID: 36602703 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-022-03156-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Endogenous neural stem cells (eNSCs) are a new therapeutic strategy for the noninvasive repair of spinal cord injury (SCI). Necroptosis is a necrosome-dependent cell death process that serves as a significant regulatory mechanism in SCI. Current research shows that neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes all undergo necroptosis after SCI. However, it is unclear whether eNSCs are associated with necroptosis after SCI. By performing immunofluorescence analysis, we found that eNSCs undergo necroptosis during spinal cord injury repair in mice. Our present work demonstrates that receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1)/mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL) are involved in necroptosis pathway in SCI mice. In vitro, the necroptosis induced by TNF-α/Smac-mimetic/Z-VAD-FMK (TSZ) treatment regulates phenotype of NSCs. In detail, the proliferative capacity of NSCs was significantly decreased in the presence of continual TSZ treatment, and the transcription of proinflammatory genes was upregulated, while the transcription of neurotrophic factors was inhibited. NSCs exhibited an obvious tendency to differentiate into glial cells under short-duration TSZ stimulation (6 h and 12 h); as the stimulus duration increased (24 h), the differentiation ability of the NSCs was significantly inhibited. These phenotypic changes are not conducive to neural cell survival and neural repair. Moreover, we examined the effect of necroptosis inhibitors on TSZ-treated NSCs. Necrostatin-1 and necrosulfonamide significantly reduced the necroptosis of NSCs after TSZ treatment and improved the phenotypic function of NSCs under TSZ stimulation. In additional in vivo experiments, after 2 weeks of administration, the necroptosis inhibitors reduced the necroptosis of NSCs and improved functional recovery in SCI mice. Taken together, these data indicate that the inhibition of NSC necroptosis with necroptosis inhibitors facilitates survival and phenotype maintenance in vitro and contributes to neuroprotection and repair in vivo. Our findings suggest that blocking necroptosis of eNSCs may be a potential therapeutic strategy for treating SCI.
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Li J, Liu X, Wu H, Guo P, Li B, Wang J, Tian W, Chen D, Gao M, Zhou Z, Liu S. Identification of hub genes related to the innate immune response activated during spinal cord injury. FEBS Open Bio 2022; 12:1839-1856. [PMID: 36047918 PMCID: PMC9527585 DOI: 10.1002/2211-5463.13472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Spinal cord injury (SCI) often leads to sensory and motor dysfunction. Two major factors that hinder spinal cord repair are local inflammation and glial scar formation after SCI, and thus appropriate immunotherapy may alleviate damage. To characterize changes in gene expression that occur during SCI and thereby identify putative targets for immunotherapy, here we analyzed the dataset GSE5296 (containing one control group and six SCI groups at different timepoints) to identify differentially-expressed genes. Functional enrichment analysis was performed and a protein-protein interaction network was created to identify possible hub genes. Finally, we performed quantitative PCR to verify changes in gene expression. The CIBERSORT algorithm was used to analyze innate immune cell infiltration patterns. The dataset GSE162610 (containing one control group and three SCI groups at different timepoints) was analyzed to evaluate innate immune cell infiltration at the single-cell level. The dataset GSE151371 (containing one control group [n = 10] and an SCI group [n = 38]) was used to detect the expression of hub genes in the blood from SCI patients. Differentially-expressed innate immune-related genes at each timepoint were identified, and the functions and related signaling pathways of these genes were examined. Six hub genes were identified and verified. We then analyzed the expression characteristics of these hub genes and characteristics of innate immune infiltration in SCI; finally, we examined ligand expression in the context of the CCL signaling pathway and COMPLEMENT signaling pathway networks. This study reveals the characteristics of innate immune cell infiltration and temporal expression patterns of hub genes, and may aid in the development of immunotherapies for SCI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianfeng Li
- Innovation Platform of Regeneration and Repair of Spinal Cord and Nerve Injury, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Seventh Affiliated HospitalSun Yat‐sen UniversityShenzhenChina,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Orthopedic Research Institute/Department of Spinal SurgeryThe First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‐sen UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Xizhe Liu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Orthopedic Research Institute/Department of Spinal SurgeryThe First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‐sen UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Huachuan Wu
- Innovation Platform of Regeneration and Repair of Spinal Cord and Nerve Injury, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Seventh Affiliated HospitalSun Yat‐sen UniversityShenzhenChina,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Orthopedic Research Institute/Department of Spinal SurgeryThe First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‐sen UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Peng Guo
- Innovation Platform of Regeneration and Repair of Spinal Cord and Nerve Injury, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Seventh Affiliated HospitalSun Yat‐sen UniversityShenzhenChina
| | - Baoliang Li
- Innovation Platform of Regeneration and Repair of Spinal Cord and Nerve Injury, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Seventh Affiliated HospitalSun Yat‐sen UniversityShenzhenChina
| | - Jianmin Wang
- Innovation Platform of Regeneration and Repair of Spinal Cord and Nerve Injury, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Seventh Affiliated HospitalSun Yat‐sen UniversityShenzhenChina
| | - Wei Tian
- Laboratory of Bone Tissue Engineering, Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, Beijing Research Institute of Orthopedics and TraumatologyBeijing Jishuitan HospitalChina
| | - Dafu Chen
- Laboratory of Bone Tissue Engineering, Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, Beijing Research Institute of Orthopedics and TraumatologyBeijing Jishuitan HospitalChina
| | - Manman Gao
- Department of Sport Medicine, Institute of Translational MedicineThe First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen Second People's HospitalChina,Guangdong Key Laboratory for Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, School of Biomedical EngineeringShenzhen University Health Science CenterChina
| | - Zhiyu Zhou
- Innovation Platform of Regeneration and Repair of Spinal Cord and Nerve Injury, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Seventh Affiliated HospitalSun Yat‐sen UniversityShenzhenChina,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Orthopedic Research Institute/Department of Spinal SurgeryThe First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‐sen UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Shaoyu Liu
- Innovation Platform of Regeneration and Repair of Spinal Cord and Nerve Injury, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Seventh Affiliated HospitalSun Yat‐sen UniversityShenzhenChina,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Orthopedic Research Institute/Department of Spinal SurgeryThe First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‐sen UniversityGuangzhouChina
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Cao T, Chen H, Huang W, Xu S, Liu P, Zou W, Pang M, Xu Y, Bai X, Liu B, Rong L, Cui ZK, Li M. hUC-MSC-mediated recovery of subacute spinal cord injury through enhancing the pivotal subunits β3 and γ2 of the GABA A receptor. Theranostics 2022; 12:3057-3078. [PMID: 35547766 PMCID: PMC9065192 DOI: 10.7150/thno.72015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Rationale: Spinal cord injury (SCI) remains an incurable neurological disorder leading to permanent and profound neurologic deficits and disabilities. Human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) are particularly appealing in SCI treatment to curtail damage, restore homeostasis and possible neural relay. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying hUC-MSC-mediated functional recovery of SCI have not been fully elucidated. The purpose of our current study is to identify novel therapeutic targets and depict the molecular mechanisms underlying the hUC-MSC-mediated recovery of subacute SCI. Methods: Adult female rats suffering from subacute incomplete thoracic SCI were treated with intrathecal transplantation of hUC-MSCs. The beneficial effects of hUC-MSCs on SCI repair were evaluated by a series of behavioral analyses, motor evoked potentials (MEPs) recording of hindlimb and immunohistochemistry. We carried out extensive transcriptome comparative analyses of spinal cord tissues at the lesion site from the subacute phase of SCI (sub-SCI) either treated without (+PBS) or with hUC-MSCs (+MSC) at 0 (sub-SCI), 1, 2, and 4 weeks post-transplantation (wpt), as well as normal spinal cord segments of intact/sham rats (Intact). Adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated neuron-specific expression system was employed to functionally screen specific γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptor (GABAAR) subunits promoting the functional recovery of SCI in vivo. The mature cortical axon scrape assay and transplantation of genetically modified MSCs with either overexpression or knockdown of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were employed to demonstrate that hUC-MSCs ameliorated the reduction of GABAAR subunits in the injured spinal cord via BDNF secretion in vitro and in vivo, respectively. Results: Comparative transcriptome analysis revealed the GABAergic synapse pathway is significantly enriched as a main target of hUC-MSC-activated genes in the injured spinal cord. Functional screening of the primary GABAAR subunits uncovered that Gabrb3 and Garbg2 harbored the motor and electrophysiological recovery-promoting competence. Moreover, targeting either of the two pivotal subunits β3 or γ2 in combination with/without the K+/Cl- cotransporter 2 (KCC2) reinforced the therapeutic effects. Mechanistically, BDNF secreted by hUC-MSCs contributed to the upregulation of GABAAR subunits (β3 & γ2) and KCC2 in the injured neurons. Conclusions: Our study identifies a novel mode for hUC-MSC-mediated locomotor recovery of SCI through synergistic upregulation of GABAAR β3 and γ2 along with KCC2 by BDNF secretion, indicating the significance of restoring the excitation/inhibition balance in the injured neurons for the reestablishment of neuronal circuits. This study also provides a potential combinatorial approach by targeting the pivotal subunit β3 or γ2 and KCC2, opening up possibilities for efficacious drug design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Cao
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Huan Chen
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Weiping Huang
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Sisi Xu
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Peilin Liu
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Weiwei Zou
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Mao Pang
- Department of Spine Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
- Guangdong Provincial Center for Engineering and Technology Research of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, 510630, China
- Guangdong Provincial Center for Quality Control of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, 510630, China
| | - Ying Xu
- Department of Spine Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
- Guangdong Provincial Center for Engineering and Technology Research of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, 510630, China
- Guangdong Provincial Center for Quality Control of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, 510630, China
| | - Xiaochun Bai
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Bin Liu
- Department of Spine Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
- Guangdong Provincial Center for Engineering and Technology Research of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, 510630, China
- Guangdong Provincial Center for Quality Control of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, 510630, China
| | - Limin Rong
- Department of Spine Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
- Guangdong Provincial Center for Engineering and Technology Research of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, 510630, China
- Guangdong Provincial Center for Quality Control of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, 510630, China
| | - Zhong-Kai Cui
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Mangmang Li
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
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