1. Academic Validation
  2. Ang-(1-7)/MasR axis promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury by regulating microglia/macrophage polarization

Ang-(1-7)/MasR axis promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury by regulating microglia/macrophage polarization

  • Cell Biosci. 2023 Feb 4;13(1):23. doi: 10.1186/s13578-023-00967-y.
Guangjin Gu # 1 Bin Zhu # 1 Jie Ren # 1 Xiaomeng Song 1 Baoyou Fan 1 Han Ding 1 Jun Shang 1 Heng Wu 2 Junjin Li 1 Hongda Wang 1 Jinze Li 1 Zhijian Wei 3 4 Shiqing Feng 5 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Tianjin Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury, Department of Orthopedics, National Spinal Cord Injury International Cooperation Base, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Anshan Road 154, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China.
  • 2 Tianjin Key Laboratory of Lung Cancer Metastasis and Tumor Microenvironment, Tianjin Lung Cancer Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.
  • 3 Tianjin Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury, Department of Orthopedics, National Spinal Cord Injury International Cooperation Base, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Anshan Road 154, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China. weizhijian2002@126.com.
  • 4 Department of Orthopaedics, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Shandong University Centre for Orthopaedics, Advanced Medical Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China. weizhijian2002@126.com.
  • 5 Tianjin Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury, Department of Orthopedics, National Spinal Cord Injury International Cooperation Base, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Anshan Road 154, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China. sqfeng@tmu.edu.cn.
  • 6 Department of Orthopaedics, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Shandong University Centre for Orthopaedics, Advanced Medical Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China. sqfeng@tmu.edu.cn.
  • # Contributed equally.
Abstract

Background: Inflammatory response is an essential part of secondary injury after spinal cord injury (SCI). During this period, the injury may be exacerbated through the release of a large number of inflammatory factors and the polarization of infiltrating macrophages and microglia towards M1. Ang-(1-7), mainly generated by Ang II via angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), can specifically bind to the G protein-coupled receptor Mas (MasR) and plays an important role in regulating inflammation and alleviating oxidative stress.

Methods: We aimed to investigate whether activating the Ang-(1-7)/MasR axis in rats after SCI can regulate local neuroinflammation to achieve functional recovery and obtain its potential mechanism. MasR expression of bone marrow-derived macrophages was determined by Western blot. Immunofluorescence, Western blot, Flow cytometry, and RT-qPCR were applied to evaluate the polarization of Ang-(1-7) on macrophages and the regulation of inflammatory cytokines. Previous evaluation of the spinal cord and bladder after SCI was conducted by hematoxylin-eosin staining, Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) score, inclined plate test, electrophysiology, and catwalk were used to evaluate the functional recovery of rats.

Results: MasR expression increased in macrophages under inflammatory conditions and further elevated after Ang-(1-7) treatment. Both in vivo and in vitro results confirmed that Ang-(1-7) could regulate the expression of inflammatory cytokines by down-regulating proinflammatory cytokines and up-regulating anti-inflammatory cytokines, and bias the polarization direction of microglia/macrophages to M2 phenotypic. After SCI, Ang-(1-7) administration in situ led to better histological and functional recovery in rats, and this recovery at least partly involved the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Conclusion: As shown in our data, activating Ang-(1-7)/MasR axis can effectively improve the inflammatory microenvironment after spinal cord injury, promote the polarization of microglia/macrophages towards the M2 phenotype, and finally support the recovery of motor function. Therefore, we suggest using Ang-(1-7) as a feasible treatment strategy for spinal cord injury to minimize the negative consequences of the inflammatory microenvironment after spinal cord injury.

Keywords

Ang-(1–7); Inflammation; Macrophages; MasR; Mocroglia; Spinal cord injury.

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