1. Academic Validation
  2. Astrocytic NDRG2-PPM1A interaction exacerbates blood-brain barrier disruption after subarachnoid hemorrhage

Astrocytic NDRG2-PPM1A interaction exacerbates blood-brain barrier disruption after subarachnoid hemorrhage

  • Sci Adv. 2022 Sep 30;8(39):eabq2423. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abq2423.
Dayun Feng 1 Jinpeng Zhou 1 Haixiao Liu 1 Xun Wu 1 Fei Li 1 Junlong Zhao 2 Yu Zhang 3 Lei Wang 3 Min Chao 1 Qiang Wang 1 Huaizhou Qin 1 Shunnan Ge 1 Qiang Liu 4 Jian Zhang 5 Yan Qu 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Neurosurgery, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, International Cooperation Platform for Encephalopathy of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an 710038, China.
  • 2 Department of Medical Genetics and Development Biology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China.
  • 3 Department of Biological Sciences, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang 464000, China.
  • 4 Department of Neurology, Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China.
  • 5 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China.
Abstract

Blood-brain barrier (BBB) injury critically exacerbates the poor prognosis of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The massively increased Matrix Metalloproteinases 9 (MMP-9) plays a deleterious role in BBB. However, the main source and mechanism of MMP-9 production after SAH remain unclear. We reported that the increased MMP-9 was mainly derived from reactive astrocytes after SAH. Ndrg2 knockout in astrocytes inhibited MMP-9 expression after SAH and attenuated BBB damage. Astrocytic Ndrg2 knockout decreased the phosphorylation of SMAD2/3 and the transcription of MMP-9. Notably, cytoplasmic NDRG2 bound to the protein Phosphatase PPM1A and restricted the dephosphorylation of SMAD2/3. Accordingly, TAT-QFNP12, a novel engineered peptide that could block the NDRG2-PPM1A binding and reduce SMAD2/3 dephosphorylation, decreased astrocytic MMP-9 production and BBB disruption after SAH. In conclusion, this study identified NDRG2-PPM1A signaling in reactive astrocytes as a key switch for MMP-9 production and provided a novel therapeutic avenue for BBB protection after SAH.

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