title: CD47 gene knockout protects against transient focal cerebral ischemia in mice.
abstract: CD47 is a cell surface glycoprotein that helps mediate neutrophil transmigration across blood vessels. The present study was performed to determine whether absence of the CD47 gene decreases focal ischemic brain damage. Mice were subjected to 90 min middle cerebral artery occlusion. CD47 knockout mice were compared against matching wildtype mice. CD47 expression was checked by Western blotting. Infarct volume and ischemic brain swelling were quantified with cresyl violet-stained brain sections at 24 and 72 h after ischemia. The tight junction protein claudin-5 was detected by imunohistochemistry. Two surrogate markers of neuroinflammation, brain levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and infiltration of neutrophils, were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Western blots confirmed that CD47 was absent in knockout brains. Ischemia did not appear to upregulate total brain levels of CD47 in WT mice. In CD47 knockout mice, infarct volumes were reduced at 24 and 72 h after ischemia, and hemispheric swelling was decreased at 72 h. Loss of claudin-5 was observed in ischemic WT brain. This effect was ameliorated in CD47 knockout brains. Extravasation of neutrophils into the brain parenchyma was significantly reduced in CD47 knockout mice compared to wildtype mice. MMP-9 appeared to be upregulated in microvessels within ischemic brain. MMP-9 levels were markedly lower in CD47 knockout brains compared to wildtype brains. We conclude that CD47 is broadly involved in neuroinflammation, and this integrin-associated-protein plays a role in promoting MMP-9 upregulaton, neutrophil extravasation, brain swelling and progression of acute ischemic brain injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Neurology, Neuroprotection Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts 02129, USA.
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: Changhong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Yong-Guang
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiaoying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Eng H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Lo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D051928:CD47 Antigen / Q000235:genetics*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000235:genetics; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics; D002546:Ischemic Attack, Transient / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics*; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D020556:Neutrophil Infiltration / Q000235:genetics; D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D051928:CD47 Antigen; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9