NCX3 knockout mice exhibit increased hippocampal CA1 and CA2 neuronal damage compared to wild-type mice following global cerebral ischemia

There is uncertainty as to whether the plasma membrane Na+/Ca2+exchanger (NCX) has a neuroprotective or neurodamaging role following cerebral ischemia. To address this issue we compared hippocampal neuronal injury in NCX3 knockout mice (Ncx3-/-) and wild-type mice (Ncx3+/+) following global cerebral ischemia. Using a bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) model of global ischemia we subjected NCX3 knockout and wild-type mice to 17 and 15 minutes of ischemia. Following the 17 minute period of ischemia, wild-type mice exhibited ≈ 80% CA1 neuronal loss and ≈ 40% CA2 neuronal loss. In contrast, NCX3 knockout mice displayed > 95% CA1 neuronal loss and ≈ 95% CA2 neuronal loss. Following the 15 minute period of ischemia, wild-type mice did not exhibit any significant hippocampal neuronal loss. In contrast, NCX3 knockout mice displayed ≈ 45% CA1 neuronal loss and ≈ 25% CA2 neuronal loss. The results clearly demonstrate that mice deficient in the NCX3 protein are more susceptible to global cerebral ischemia than wild-type mice. Our findings suggest NCX3 has a positive role in maintaining neuronal intracellular calcium homeostasis following ischemia, and that when exchanger function is compromised neurons are more susceptible to calcium deregulation and cell death.