Inhibition of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion-induced injury by adenovirus expressed C-terminal amino acids of GluR6

GluR6 kainate receptor subunit is largely expressed in hippocampus of brain regions and plays an important role in brain ischemia/reperfusion-mediated neuronal cell death. Our previous researches have shown that cerebral ischemia/reperfusion could facilitate the assembly of GluR6 and postsynaptic density protein 95(PSD95) as well as mixed lineage kinase 3(MLK3) and further induce the activation of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase 3(JNK3), leading to neuronal death of hippocampal CA1. Here, we show that over-expression of C-terminal amino acids of GluR6 can interrupt the combination of GluR6 with PSD95, inhibit the assembly of GluR6·PSD-95·MLK3 signaling module, suppress the activation of JNK3 and the downstream signaling pathway. Thus, our results imply that over-expression of C-terminal amino acids of GluR6 induce neuroprotection against ischaemic brain injury in rat hippocampal CA1 region via suppressing proapoptosis signaling pathways, which can be an experimental foundation for gene therapy of stroke.