Hepatocyte growth factor attenuates cerebral ischemia-induced increase in permeability of the blood-brain barrier and decreases in expression of tight junctional proteins in cerebral vessels.
Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) exerts its physiological activities as that of an organotropic factor for regeneration and can prevent ischemia-induced injuries; however, its effect and mechanism of action under in vivo pathophysiological conditions remains to be determined. Recently, we demonstrated that treatment with human recombinant HGF (hrHGF) attenuated the disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) observed after microsphere embolism-induced sustained cerebral ischemia. To see if tight junctional proteins were involved in this attenuation, in the present study, we investigated the effects of HGF on the levels of occludin and zonula occludens (ZO)-1 in cerebrovascular endothelial cells after microsphere embolism. Sustained cerebral ischemia was induced by the injection of 700 microspheres (48 microm diameter) into the right internal carotid artery of rats. hrHGF was injected into the right ventricle of the brain by using an osmotic pump at a dose of 30 microg/7 days per animal. The levels of tight junctional proteins in the endothelial cells were examined by immunohistochemical analysis. Treatment with hrHGF attenuated the decrease in the expression of occludin and ZO-1 proteins in the endothelial cells that occurred after sustained cerebral ischemia. Furthermore, treatment with hrHGF resulted in retention of these tight junctional proteins in fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-albumin-perfused cerebral vessels, which did not leak FITC-albumin in the ipsilateral cortex. These results suggest that HGF-mediated maintenance of the tight junctional proteins in the endothelial cells may be a possible mechanism for the protective effect of HGF against the disruption of the BBB after cerebral ischemia.
Date
Ichiro
I
Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science, 1432-1 Horinouchi, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0392, Japan.
Takagi
Norio
N
Takagi
Keiko
K
Tanonaka
Kouichi
K
Funakoshi
Hiroshi
H
Matsumoto
Kunio
K
Nakamura
Toshikazu
T
Takeo
Satoshi
S
D000818:Animals; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000187:drug effects*; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000187:drug effects*; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016466:CHO Cells; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D006224:Cricetinae; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D020766:Intracranial Embolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008863:Microspheres; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D009995:Osmosis; D010539:Permeability; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D019108:Tight Junctions / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate