PTEN deletion prevents ischemic brain injury by activating the mTOR signaling pathway

It is increasingly clear that the tumor suppressor PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) is a negative regulator of neuronal cell survival. However, its molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we found that PTEN/mTOR is critical for controlling neuronal cell death after ischemic brain injury. Male rats were subjected to MCAO (middle cerebral artery occlusion) followed by pretreating with bpv (pic), a potent inhibitor for PTEN, or by intra-cerebroventricular infusion of PTEN siRNA. bpv (pic) significantly decreased infarct volume and reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells. We further demonstrated that although bpv (pic) did not affect brain injury-induced mTOR protein expression, bpv (pic) prevented decrease in phosphorylation of mTOR, and the subsequent decrease in S6. Similarly, down-regulation of PTEN expression also reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells, and increased phospho-mTOR. These data suggest that PTEN deletion prevents neuronal cell death resulting from ischemic brain injury and that its neuroprotective effects are mediated by increasing the injury-induced mTOR phosphorylation.

Research highlights
► bpv (pic), a potent inhibitor for PTEN, significantly decreased infarct volume and reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells.
► bpv (pic) prevented the injury-induced decrease in phosphorylation of mTOR, and the subsequent decrease in S6.
► Similarly, down-regulation of PTEN expression by RNAi also reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells, and increased phospho-mTOR.
► PTEN deletion prevents ischemic brain injury by activating the mTOR signaling pathway.