title: Hypoxia/reoxygenation differentially modulates NF-kappaB activation and iNOS expression in astrocytes and microglia.
abstract: Hypoxia/ischemic brain injury accompanies an inflammatory response involving an activation of glial cells. This study, using an in vitro model, investigated the signaling mechanisms mediating hypoxic responses of the two glial cell types (astrocytes and microglia) in relation to the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). In cultures of rat brain microglia and astrocytes, hypoxia (8 h) followed by reoxygenation (24 h) (H/O) had little (microglia) or no (astrocytes) effect on the expression of iNOS. However, H/O elicited opposite effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induction of iNOS in the two cell types: it potentiated LPS induction of iNOS in microglia but inhibited this response in astrocytes. Similar differential effects of hypoxia were observed on the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha). In contrast, there was an upregulation of hemoxygenase- 1 (HO-1), a counter-regulatory pathway, with astrocytes showing a bigger induction than microglia. While hypoxic activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) was similar in the two glial types, the activation pattern of NFkappaB was clearly different: hypoxia stimulated the activation of NFkappaB pathway and NFkappaB-dependent transcription in microglia but not in astrocytes. Lastly, the two cell types displayed differential vulnerabilities to hypoxia-induced cell death, the astrocytes being relatively more resistant than microglia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, 29425, USA.
authors.forename: Guiwen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Narayan R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Bhat
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000201:enzymology*; D016923:Cell Death; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D017628:Microglia / Q000201:enzymology*; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; C496318:Nos2 protein, rat; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D010100:Oxygen