Stress-induced neuroinflammation is mediated by GSK3-dependent TLR4 signaling that promotes susceptibility to depression-like behavior

• Foot shock stress increased mouse hippocampal levels of 18 cytokines.
• Prior stress accelerated the rate of increase of stress-induced hippocampal cytokines.
• Knockdown of HMGB1 reduced acceleration caused by prior stress on cytokine increases.
• TLR4 knockout reduced stress-induced increases of many hippocampal cytokines.
• Fluoxetine or GSK3 inhibitor pretreatment reduced stress-induced cytokine increases.

Most psychiatric and neurological diseases are exacerbated by stress. Because this may partially result from stress-induced inflammation, we examined factors involved in this stress response. After a paradigm of inescapable foot shock stress that causes learned helplessness depression-like behavior, eighteen cytokines and chemokines increased in mouse hippocampus, peaking 6–12 h after stress. A 24 h prior pre-conditioning stress accelerated the rate of stress-induced hippocampal cytokine and chemokine increases, with most reaching peak levels after 1–3 h, often without altering the maximal levels. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) was involved in this response because most stress-induced hippocampal cytokines and chemokines were attenuated in TLR4 knockout mice. Stress activated glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) in wild-type mouse hippocampus, but not in TLR4 knockout mice. Administration of the antidepressant fluoxetine or the GSK3 inhibitor TDZD-8 reduced the stress-induced increases of most hippocampal cytokines and chemokines. Stress increased hippocampal levels of the danger-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) protein high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), activated the inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB, and the NLRP3 inflammasome. Knockdown of HMGB1 blocked the acceleration of cytokine and chemokine increases in the hippocampus caused by two successive stresses. Fluoxetine treatment blocked stress-induced up-regulation of HMGB1 and subsequent NF-κB activation, whereas TDZD-8 administration attenuated NF-κB activation downstream of HMGB1. To test if stress-induced cytokines and chemokines contribute to depression-like behavior, the learned helplessness model was assessed. Antagonism of TNFα modestly reduced susceptibility to learned helplessness induction, whereas TLR4 knockout mice were resistant to learned helplessness. Thus, stress-induces a broad inflammatory response in mouse hippocampus that involves TLR4, GSK3, and downstream inflammatory signaling, and these stress responses contribute to susceptibility to depression-like behavior in mice.