cPKC γ-Modulated Autophagy Contributes to Ischemic Preconditioning–Induced Neuroprotection in Mice with Ischemic Stroke via mTOR-ULK1 Pathway

In this study, adult and postnatal 1-day-old C57BL/6 J wild -type (cPKCγ+/+) and knockout (cPKC γ−/−) mice were used to establish in vivo and in vitro IPC models. The results showed that IPC pretreatment alleviated neuronal damage caused by lethal ischemia, which could be suppressed by autophagy inhibitor 3-MA or bafilomycin A1. Meanwhile, cPKC γ knockout blocked IPC-induced neuroprotection, accompanied by significant increase of LC3-I to LC3-II conversion and Beclin 1 protein level, and a significant decrease in p62 protein level. Immunofluorescent staining results showed a decrease of LC3 puncta numbers in IPC-treated cPKCγ+/+ neurons with fatal ischemia, which was reversed in cPKC γ−/− neurons. In addition, cPKC γ-modulated phosphorylation of mTOR at Ser 2448 and ULK1 at Ser 555, rather than p-Thr-172 AMPK, was detected in IPC-pretreated neurons upon lethal ischemic exposure. The present data demonstrated that cPKCγ-modulated autophagy via the mTOR-ULK1 pathway likely modulated IPC-induced neuroprotection .
Source: Translational Stroke Research - Category: Neurology Source Type: research