Methylene blue-induced neuronal protective mechanism against hypoxiareoxygenation stress

摘要

Brain ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury occurs in various pathological conditions, but there is no effective treatment currently available in clinical practice. Methylene blue (MB) is a century old drug with a newly discovered protective function in the ischemic stroke model. In the current investigation we studied the MB-induced neuroprotective mechanism focusing on stabilization and activation of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in an in vitro oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD)-reoxygenation model.MethodsHT22 cells were exposed to OGD (0.1% O2, 6h) and reoxygenation (21% O2, 24h). Cell viability was determined with the calcein AM assay. The dynamic change of intracellular O2 concentration was monitored by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLTIM). Glucose uptake was quantified using the 2-[N-(7-Nitrobenz-2-Oxa- 1,3-Diazol-4-yl)Amino]- 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose (2-NBDG) assay. ATP concentration and glycolytic enzyme activity were examined by spectrophotometry. Protein content changes were measured by immunoblot: HIF-1α, prolyl hydroxylase 2(PHD2), erythropoietin (EPO), Akt, mTOR, and PIP5K. The contribution of HIF-1α activation in the MB-induced neuroprotective mechanism was confirmed by blocking HIF-1α activation with 2-methoxyestradiol-2 (2-MeOE2) and by transiently transfecting constitutively active HIF-1α.