1. Academic Validation
  2. TGF-β1 Protects Trauma-injured Murine Cortical Neurons by Upregulating L-type Calcium Channel Cav1.2 via the p38 Pathway

TGF-β1 Protects Trauma-injured Murine Cortical Neurons by Upregulating L-type Calcium Channel Cav1.2 via the p38 Pathway

  • Neuroscience. 2022 Jun 1;492:47-57. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.04.010.
Yanlei Li 1 Weiqiang Chen 2 Huixiong Deng 3 Tian Li 4 Zhenning Liu 5 Xueer Liu 6 Zelin Zhang 7 Xiaoxuan Chen 8 Jiangtao Sheng 9 Kangsheng Li 10
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Immunopathology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. Electronic address: 16ylli3@stu.edu.cn.
  • 2 Department of Neurosurgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: wqchen@stu.edu.cn.
  • 3 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Immunopathology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. Electronic address: hxdeng@stu.edu.cn.
  • 4 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Immunopathology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. Electronic address: 16tli1@stu.edu.cn.
  • 5 Department of Laboratory, Guangzhou Chest Hospital, China. Electronic address: zhenning_liu@163.com.
  • 6 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Immunopathology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. Electronic address: xueerau@163.com.
  • 7 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Immunopathology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. Electronic address: 21zlzhang@stu.edu.cn.
  • 8 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Immunopathology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. Electronic address: chen.x.x.85@163.com.
  • 9 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Immunopathology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. Electronic address: jtsheng@stu.edu.cn.
  • 10 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Immunopathology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. Electronic address: ksli@stu.edu.cn.
Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of disability and death in adolescents, and there is a lack of effective methods of treatment. The neuroprotective effects exerted by TGF-β1 can ameliorate a range of neuronal lesions in multiple central nervous system diseases. In this study, we used an in-vitro TBI model of mechanical injury on murine primary cortical neurons and the neuro-2a cell line to investigate the neuroprotective role played by TGF-β1 in cortical neurons in TBI. Our results showed that TGF-β1 significantly increased neuronal viability and inhibited Apoptosis for 24 h after trauma. The expression of CAv1.2, an L-type calcium channel (LTCC) isoform, decreased significantly after trauma injury, and this change was reversed by TGF-β1. Nimodipine, a classic LTCC blocker, abolished the protective effect of TGF-β1 on trauma-induced neuronal Apoptosis. The knockdown of CAv1.2 in differentiated neuro-2a cells significantly inhibited the anti-apoptosis effect of TGF-β1 exerted on injured neuro-2a cells. Moreover, TGF-β1 rescued and enhanced the trauma-suppressed neuro-2a intracellular CA2+ concentration, while the effect of TGF-β1 was partially inhibited by nimodipine. TGF-β1 significantly upregulated the expression of CAv1.2 by activating the p38 MAPK pathway and by inhibiting trauma-induced neuronal Apoptosis. In conclusion, TGF-β1 increased trauma-injured murine cortical neuronal activity and inhibited Apoptosis by upregulating Cav1.2 channels via activating the p38 MAPK pathway. Therefore, the TGF-β1/p38 MAPK/CAv 1.2 pathway has the potential to be used as a novel therapeutic target for TBI.

Keywords

L-type calcium channel; cortical neuron; neuro-2a; p38-mitogen-activated protein kinase; transforming growth factor-β1; traumatic brain injury.

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