Richard P. Kraig

Hydrogen Ions Kill Brain at Concentrations Reached in Ischemia

Elevation of brain glucose before the onset of nearly complete ischemia leads to increased lactic acid within brain. When excessive, such acidosis may be a necessary factor for converting selective neuronal loss to brain infarction from nearly complete ischemia. To examine the potential neurotoxicity of excessive lactic acid concentrations, we microinjected (0.5 μl/min) 150 mM sodium lactate solutions (adjusted to 6.50–4.00 pH) for 20 min into parietal cortex of anesthetized rats. Interstitial pH (pH0) was monitored with hydrogen ion–selective microelectrodes. Animals were allowed to recover for 24 h before injection zones were examined with the light microscope. Injectants produced brain necrosis in a histological pattern resembling ischemic infarction only when pH0 was ≤ 5.30. Nonlethal injections showed only needle tract injuries. Abrupt deterioration of brain acid-base homeostatic mechanisms correlated with necrosis since pH0 returned to baseline more slowly after lethal tissue injections than after nonlethal ones. The slowed return of pH0 to baseline after the severely acidic injections may reflect altered function of plasma membrane antiport systems for pH regulation and loss of brain hydrogen ion buffers.

Spreading depression increases immunohistochemical staining of glial fibrillary acidic protein

Reactive astrocytosis is a process by which astrocytes respond to brain injury by showing an increase in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) staining that is associated with hypertrophy and/or hyperplasia of these cells. Because spreading depression (SD) is a perturbation uncomplicated by neuronal necrosis and is seen in both in vivo and in vitro neural structures, we sought to determine whether SD was a sufficient stimulus to induce enhanced GFAP staining. SD was elicited in anesthetized rats by application of KCI to parietal cortex for 3 hr; equimolar NaCI was applied to contralateral cortex. SD was confirmed by monitoring DC potentials in frontal neocortices. Animals were allowed to recover for 48 hr, and their brains were processed for semiquantitative and computer-based analyses of GFAP staining intensity. Experimental GFAP staining was referenced to contralateral control levels. Neocortical SD (13–37 SDs) was associated with a significant (p less than 10(-4)), 43% increase in GFAP staining intensity, which remained statistically greater than normal for more than 2 weeks. If SD was inhibited by combined hyperoxia and hypercarbia, only a nonsignificant (p greater than 0.20), 7% increase in GFAP staining was seen. Thus, SD may be a useful physiologic process with which to begin to explore the cellular mechanisms that induce the transformation of normal astrocytes into reactive species.

Prostaglandin E Receptor Subtypes in Cultured Rat Microglia and Their Role in Reducing Lipopolysaccharide‐Induced Interleukin‐1 β Production

Abstract : Prostaglandins (PGs) are potent modulators of brain function under normal and pathological conditions. The diverse effects of PGs are due to the various actions of specific receptor subtypes for these prostanoids. Recent work has shown that PGE2, while generally considered a proinflammatory molecule, reduces microglial activation and thus has an antiinflammatory effect on these cells. To gain further insight to the mechanisms by which PGE2 influences the activation of microglia, we investigated PGE receptor subtype, i.e., EP1, EP2, EP3, and EP4, expression and function in cultured rat microglia. RT‐PCR showed the presence of the EP1 and EP2 but not EP3 and EP4 receptor subtypes. Sequencing confirmed their identity with previously published receptor subtypes. PGE2 and the EP1 agonist 17‐phenyl trinor PGE2 but not the EP3 agonist sulprostone elicited reversible intracellular [Ca2+] increases in microglia as measured by fura‐2. PGE2 and the EP2/EP4‐specific agonists 11‐deoxy‐PGE1 and 19‐hydroxy‐PGE2 but not the EP4‐selective agonist 1‐hydroxy‐PGE1 induced dose‐dependent production of cyclic AMP (cAMP). Interleukin (IL)‐1β production, a marker of activated microglia, was also measured following lipopolysaccharide exposure in the presence or absence of the receptor subtype agonists. PGE2 and the EP2 agonists reduced IL‐1β production. IL‐1β production was unchanged by EP1, EP3, and EP4 agonists. The adenylyl cyclase activator forskolin and the cAMP analogue dibutyryl cAMP also reduced IL‐1β production. Thus, the inhibitory effects of PGE2 on microglia are mediated by the EP2 receptor subtype, and the signaling mechanism of this effect is likely via cAMP. These results show that the effects of PGE2 on microglia are receptor subtype‐specific. Furthermore, they suggest that specific and selective manipulation of the effects of PGs on microglia and, as a result, brain function may be possible.

Astrocytic Acidosis in Hyperglycemic and Complete Ischemia

Nearly complete brain ischemia under normoglycemic conditions results in death of only selectively vulnerable neurons. With prior elevation of brain glucose, such injury is enhanced to include pancellular necrosis (i.e., infarction), perhaps because an associated, severe lactic acidosis preferentially injures astrocytes. However, no direct physiologic measurements exist to support this hypothesis. Therefore, we used microelectrodes to measure intracellular pH and passive electrical properties of cortical astrocytes as a first approach to characterizing the physiologic behavior of these cells during hyperglycemic and complete ischemia, conditions that produce infarction in reperfused brain. Anesthesized rats (n = 26) were made extremely hyperglycemic (blood glucose, 51.4 ± 2.8 mM) so as to create potentially the most extreme acidic conditions possible; then ischemia was induced by cardiac arrest. Two loci more acidic than the interstitial space (6.17–6.20 pH) were found. The more acidic locus [4.30 ± 0.19 (n = 5); range: 3.82–4.89] was occasionally seen at the onset of anoxic depolarization, 3–7 min after cardiac arrest. The less acidic locus [5.30 ± 0.07 (n = 53); range 4.46–5.93)] was seen 5–46 min after cardiac arrest. A small negative change in DC potential [8 ± 1 mV (n = 5); range –3 to –12 mV and 7 ± 2 mV (n = 53); range + 3 to –31 mV, respectively] was always seen upon impalement of acidic loci, suggesting cellular penetration. In a separate group of five animals, electrical characteristics of these cells were specifically measured (n = 17): membrane potential was –12 ± 0.2 mV (range –3 to –24 mV), input resistance was 114 ± 16 MΩ (range 25–250 MΩ), and time constant was 4.4 ± 0.4 ms (range 3.0–7.9 ms). Injection of horseradish peroxidase into cells from either animal group uniformly stained degenerating astrocytes. These findings establish previously unrecognized properties of ischemic astrocytes that may be prerequisites for infarction from nearly complete ischemia: the capacity to develop profound cellular acidosis and a concomitant reduction in cell membrane ion permeability.

The Effects of Extracellular Acidosis on Neurons and Glia In Vitro

Cerebral lactic acid, a product of ischemic anaerobic glycolysis, may directly contribute to ischemic brain damage in vivo. In this study we evaluated the effects of extracellular acid exposure on 7-day-old cultures of embryonic rat forebrain. Mixed neuronal and glial cultures were exposed to either lactic or hydrochloric acid to compare the toxicities of relatively permeable and impermeable acids. Neurons were relatively resistant to extracellular HCl acidosis, often surviving 10-min exposures to pH 3.8. In the same cultures, immunochemically defined astrocytes survived 10-min HCl exposures to a maximum acidity of pH 4.2. Similarly, axonal bundles defasciculated in HCl-titrated media below pH 4.4, although their constituent fibers often survived pH 3.8. Cell death occurred at higher pH in cultures subjected to lactic acidosis than in those exposed to HCl. Over half of forebrain neurons and glia subjected for 10 min to lactic acidification failed to survive exposure to pH 4.9. Longer 1-h lactic acid incubations resulted in cell death below pH 5.2. The potent cytotoxicity of lactic acid may be a direct result of the relatively rapid transfer of its neutral protonated form across cell membranes. This process would rapidly deplete intracellular buffer stores, resulting in unchecked cytosolic acidification. Neuronal and glial death from extracellular acidosis may therefore be a function of both the degree and the rapidity of intracellular acidification.

Hydrogen Ion Buffering During Complete Brain Ischemia

As a first step to quantify [H+] changes in brain during ischemia we used H+-selective microelectrodes and enzyme fluorometric techniques to describe the relationship between interstitial [H+] ([H+]o) and peak tissue lactate after cardiac arrest. We found a step function relationship between [H+]o and tissue lactate rather than the linear titration expected in a homogeneous protein solution. Within a blood glucose range from 3-7 mM, brain lactate rose from 8-13 mmol/kg along with a rise in [H+]o of 99 +/- 6 nM(0.44 +/- 0.02 pH). At higher blood glucose levels (17-80 mM), brain lactate accumulated to levels of 16-31 mmol/kg; concurrently [H+]o rose by 608 +/- 16 nM (1.07 +/- 0.02 pH). The unchanging level of [H+]o between 8-13 and 16-31 mmol/kg lactate implies that [H+]o is at a steady-state, but not equilibrium with respect to [H+] in other brain compartments. We propose that ion-transport characteristics of astroglia account for the observed relationship of [H+]o to tissue lactate during complete ischemia and suggest that brain infarction develops after plasma membranes in brain cells can no longer transport ions to regulate [H+].

Youth and environmental enrichment generate serum exosomes containing miR-219 that promote CNS myelination

Although commonly considered a disease of white matter, gray matter demyelination is increasingly recognized as an important component of multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis, particularly in the secondary progressive disease phase. Extent of damage to gray matter is strongly correlated to decline in memory and cognitive dysfunction in MS patients. Aging likewise occurs with cognitive decline from myelin loss, and age‐associated failure to remyelinate significantly contributes to MS progression. However, recent evidence demonstrates that parabiotic exposure of aged animals to a youthful systemic milieu can promote oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) differentiation and improve remyelination. In the current study, we focus on this potential for stimulating remyelination, and show it involves serum exosomes that increase OPCs and their differentiation into mature myelin‐producing cells—both under control conditions and after acute demyelination. Environmental enrichment (EE) of aging animals produced exosomes that mimicked this promyelinating effect. Additionally, stimulating OPC differentiation via exosomes derived from environmentally enriched animals is unlikely to deplete progenitors, as EE itself promotes proliferation of neural stem cells. We found that both young and EE serum‐derived exosomes were enriched in miR‐219, which is necessary and sufficient for production of myelinating oligodendrocytes by reducing the expression of inhibitory regulators of differentiation. Accordingly, protein transcript levels of these miR‐219 target mRNAs decreased following exosome application to slice cultures. Finally, nasal administration of exosomes to aging rats also enhanced myelination. Thus, peripheral circulating cells in young or environmentally enriched animals produce exosomes that may be a useful therapy for remyelination. GLIA 2014;62:284–299

Enhanced Integrated Stress Response Promotes Myelinating Oligodendrocyte Survival in Response to Interferon-γ

The T-cell-derived, pleiotropic cytokine interferon (IFN)-gamma is believed to play a key regulatory role in immune-mediated demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system, including multiple sclerosis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Our previous work has demonstrated that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response modulates the response of oligodendrocytes to this cytokine. The ER stress response activates the pancreatic ER kinase, which coordinates an adaptive program known as the integrated stress response by phosphorylating translation initiation factor 2alpha (eIF2alpha). In this study, we found that growth arrest and DNA damage 34 (GADD34), a stress-inducible regulatory subunit of a phosphatase complex that dephosphorylates eIF2alpha, was selectively up-regulated in myelinating oligodendrocytes in mice that ectopically expressed IFN-gamma in the central nervous system. We also found that a GADD34 mutant strain of mice displayed increased levels of phosphorylated eIF2alpha (p-eIF2alpha) in myelinating oligodendrocytes when exposure to IFN-gamma, as well as diminished oligodendrocyte loss and hypomyelination. Furthermore, treatment with salubrinal, a small chemical compound that specifically inhibits protein phosphatase 1(PP1)-GADD34 phosphatase activity, increased the levels of p-eIF2alpha and ameliorated hypomyelination and oligodendrocyte loss in cultured hippocampal slices exposed to IFN-gamma. Thus, our data provide evidence that an enhanced integrated stress response could promote oligodendrocyte survival in immune-mediated demyelination diseases.

Optimization of multiplexed bead-based cytokine immunoassays for rat serum and brain tissue

The ability to simultaneously quantify multiple signaling molecule protein levels from microscopic neural tissue samples would be of great benefit to deciphering how they affect brain function. This follows from evidence that indicates signaling molecules can be pleiotropic and can have complex interactive behavior that is regionally and cellularly heterogeneous. Multiplexed examination of tissue proteins has been exceedingly difficult because of the absence of available techniques. This void now has been removed by the commercial availability of bead-based immunoassays for targeted proteins that allow analyses of up to 100 (6-150 kDa) proteins from as little as 12 microl. Thus far used only for sera (human and mouse) and culture media, we demonstrate here that sensitive (as low as 2 pg/ml), wide-ranging (up to 2-32 000 pg/ml), accurate (8% intra-assay covariance) and reliable (4-7% inter-assay covariance) measurements can be made of nine exemplary cytokines (e.g., IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, GM-CSF, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha) simultaneously not only from rat serum but, for the first time, also brain tissue. Furthermore, we describe animal handling procedures that minimize stress as determined by serum glucocorticoid levels since they can influence cytokine expression.

IFNγ-stimulated dendritic cell exosomes as a potential therapeutic for remyelination.

Dendritic cells (DCs) release exosomes with different characteristics based on stimulus. Here, we showed that DC cultures stimulated with low-level IFNγ released exosomes (IFNγ-DC-Exos) that contained microRNA species that can increase baseline myelination, reduce oxidative stress, and improve remyelination following acute lysolecithin-induced demyelination. Furthermore, nasally administered IFNγ-DC-Exos increased CNS myelination in vivo. IFNγ-DC-Exos were preferentially taken up by oligodendrocytes, suggesting that they directly impact oligodendrocytes to increase myelination. Thus, our results show great potential for use of these IFNγ-DC-Exos as a therapeutic to promote remyelination in multiple sclerosis and dysmyelinating syndromes.