2. Academic Validation
  3. Inhibition of EPAC2 Attenuates Intracerebral Hemorrhage-Induced Secondary Brain Injury via the p38/BIM/Caspase-3 Pathway

Inhibition of EPAC2 Attenuates Intracerebral Hemorrhage-Induced Secondary Brain Injury via the p38/BIM/Caspase-3 Pathway

  • J Mol Neurosci. 2019 Mar;67(3):353-363. doi: 10.1007/s12031-018-1215-y.
Yan Zhuang 1 2,  Hui Xu 1 3,  Seidu A Richard 4,  Jie Cao 1,  Haiying Li 1,  Haitao Shen 1,  Zhengquan Yu 1,  Jian Zhang 1,  Zhong Wang 5,  Xiang Li 6,  Gang Chen 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Neurosurgery and Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188 Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China.
  • 2 Department of Neurosurgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, 438 Jiefang Road, Zhenjiang, 212001, Jiangsu Province, China.
  • 3 Department of Neurosurgery, The Sixth People's Hospital of Nantong, No. 500 Yonghe Road, Nantong, 226011, Jiangsu Province, China.
  • 4 Department of Immunology, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu Province, China.
  • 5 Department of Neurosurgery and Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188 Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China. [email protected].
  • 6 Department of Neurosurgery and Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188 Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China. [email protected].
PMID: 30607901 DOI: 10.1007/s12031-018-1215-y
Abstract

Exchange proteins directly activated by cAMP (EPACs) are critical cAMP-dependent signaling pathway intermediaries that have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several human diseases, particularly neurological disorders. However, their pathogenic role in secondary brain injury (SBI) induced by intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of EPAC2 on ICH-induced SBI and its underlying mechanisms. An in vivo ICH model was established in Sprague-Dawley rats by autologous blood injection. In addition, rat primary cortical neuronal cultures were exposed to oxyhemoglobin to simulate ICH in vitro. The function of EPAC2 in SBI induced by ICH was studied using the EPAC2-specific inhibitor ESI-05. In this study, we found that EPAC2 protein expression was significantly increased in the ICH models in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, EPAC2 activation was inhibited by ESI-05 under ICH conditions. Inhibition of EPAC2 decreased the Apoptosis rate of nerve cells in the cortex accompanied by a corresponding decrease in the protein expression of phosphorylated p38, Bcl-2-like protein 11 (Bim), and Caspase-3. In summary, this study showed that inhibition of EPAC2 activation by ESI-05 suppressed SBI induced by ICH via the p38/Bim/Caspase-3 signaling pathway.

Keywords

Apoptosis; BIM; EPAC2; Intracranial hemorrhage; Secondary brain injury; p38.

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