Down-Regulation of Nogo-A and PirB in Ischemic Cortex with Remote Ischemic Preconditioning in Mice

Abstract

Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the effect of Limb Remote Ischemic Preconditioning (LRIP) on the expression of Nogo-A and PirB in the cortex of mice with focal cerebral ischemia, and related pathways involving in axonal regeneration and neurological function recovery after cerebral ischemia. Methods: Adult male C57/BL6 mice were divided into sham-operated (sham), transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion (MCAO), LRIP and anti- PirBAb treatment group. Samples were collected 48h after cerebral ischemia. The histopathologic changes were assessed by 1,3,5-Triphenyl-2H-Tetrazolium Chloride (TTC), and Hematoxylin and Eosin (HE) staining and TUNEL method. The expression of Nogo-A and PirB were determined by immunofluorescence, RT-PCR and Western blot respectively. Results: TTC staining showed that LRIP treatment reduced the infarct size of mice and anti-PirBAb treatment further decline the infarct size, which was accompanied with the decline of neurological deficit score and reduction of neuronal damage. LRIP treatment also reduced the TUNEL positive cells induced by MCAO and anti-PirBAb treatment further strengthened the effect of LRIP. Except sham group, the expressions of Nogo-A and PirB in other three groups all increased with varying degrees, among which MCAO group was the highest, LRIP group was the second and the anti-PirBAb group was the lowest. The expressions of growth associated protein 43 (GAP43) showed opposite tendency. Conclusions: LRIP plays beneficial influence on cerebral ischemia. LRIP and PirB inhibition combination has a better protective effect on nervous system after cerebral ischemia in mice.