TY - JOUR A1 - Haarmann, Axel A1 - Vollmuth, Christoph A1 - Kollikowski, Alexander M. A1 - Heuschmann, Peter U. A1 - Pham, Mirko A1 - Stoll, Guido A1 - Neugebauer, Hermann A1 - Schuhmann, Michael K. T1 - Vasoactive soluble endoglin: a novel biomarker indicative of reperfusion after cerebral large-vessel occlusion JF - Cells N2 - Now that mechanical thrombectomy has substantially improved outcomes after large-vessel occlusion stroke in up to every second patient, futile reperfusion wherein successful recanalization is not followed by a favorable outcome is moving into focus. Unfortunately, blood-based biomarkers, which identify critical stages of hemodynamically compromised yet reperfused tissue, are lacking. We recently reported that hypoxia induces the expression of endoglin, a TGF-β co-receptor, in human brain endothelium in vitro. Subsequent reoxygenation resulted in shedding. Our cell model suggests that soluble endoglin compromises the brain endothelial barrier function. To evaluate soluble endoglin as a potential biomarker of reperfusion (-injury) we analyzed its concentration in 148 blood samples of patients with acute stroke due to large-vessel occlusion. In line with our in vitro data, systemic soluble endoglin concentrations were significantly higher in patients with successful recanalization, whereas hypoxia alone did not induce local endoglin shedding, as analyzed by intra-arterial samples from hypoxic vasculature. In patients with reperfusion, higher concentrations of soluble endoglin additionally indicated larger infarct volumes at admission. In summary, we give translational evidence that the sequence of hypoxia and subsequent reoxygenation triggers the release of vasoactive soluble endoglin in large-vessel occlusion stroke and can serve as a biomarker for severe ischemia with ensuing recanalization/reperfusion. KW - endoglin KW - brain endothelium KW - stroke KW - shedding KW - mechanical thrombectomy KW - hypoxia KW - reperfusion injury KW - biomarker Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-304995 SN - 2073-4409 VL - 12 IS - 2 ER - TY - THES A1 - Sun, Aili T1 - Effect of Tjap1 knock-down on blood-brain barrier properties under normal and hypoxic conditions T1 - Auswirkung des Tjap1-Knockdowns auf die Eigenschaften der Blut-Hirn-Schranke unter normalen und hypoxischen Bedingungen N2 - Stroke is one of the leading causes of mortality and disability worldwide. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in maintaining brain homeostasis by tightly regulating the exchange of substances between circulating blood and brain parenchyma. BBB disruption is a common pathologic feature of stroke and traumatic brain injury. Understanding the cellular and molecular events that affect the BBB after ischaemic brain injury is important to improve patient prognosis. We have previously shown that microRNA-212/132 is elevated in hypoxic brain microvascular endothelial cells and acts through suppressing the expression of direct microRNA-212/132 target genes with function at the BBB: claudin-1, junctional adhesion molecule 3 (Jam3) and tight-junction associated protein 1 (Tjap1). While the role of claudin-1 and Jam3 at the BBB is well known, the role of Tjap1 is still unclear. The aim of this work was therefore to characterize the role of Tjap1 in brain endothelial cells using a knock-down (KD) approach in established murine in vitro BBB models cEND and cerebEND. Tjap1 KD was established by stable transfection of a plasmid expressing shRNA against Tjap1. The successful downregulation of Tjap1 mRNA and protein was demonstrated by qPCR and Western blot. Tjap1 KD resulted in impaired barrier properties of endothelial cells as shown by lower TEER values and higher paracellular permeability. Interestingly, the Tjap1 KD cells showed lower cell viability and proliferation but migrated faster in a wound healing assay. In the tube formation assay, Tjap1 KD cell lines showed a lower angiogenic potential due to a significantly lower tube length and number as well as a lower amount of branching points in formed capillaries. Tjap1 KD cells showed changes in gene and protein expression. The TJ proteins claudin-5, Jam3 and ZO-1 were significantly increased in Tjap1 KD cell lines, while occludin was strongly decreased. In addition, efflux pump P-glycoprotein was downregulated in Tjap1 KD cells. Oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) is a method to mimic stroke in vitro. Brain endothelial cell lines treated with OGD showed lower barrier properties compared to cells cultured under normal condition. These effects were more severe in Tjap1 KD cells, indicating active Tjap1 involvement in the OGD response in brain microvascular endothelial cells. We thus have shown that Tjap1 contributes to a tight barrier of the BBB, regulates cell viability and proliferation of endothelial cells, suppresses their migration and promotes new vessel formation. This means that Tjap1 function is important for mature BBB structure in health and disease. N2 - Schlaganfall ist weltweit eine der häufigsten Ursachen für Mortalität und Behinderung. Die Blut-Hirn-Schranke (BHS) spielt eine wichtige Rolle bei der Aufrechterhaltung der Gehirnhomöostase, indem sie den Stoffaustausch zwischen dem zirkulierenden Blut und dem Gehirnparenchym streng reguliert. Eine Störung der BHS ist ein gemeinsames pathologisches Merkmal von Schlaganfällen und traumatischen Hirnverletzungen. Um die Prognose der Patientinnen und Patienten zu verbessern, ist es wichtig, die zellulären und molekularen Ereignisse zu verstehen, die sich nach einer ischämischen Hirnverletzung auf die BHS auswirken. Wir haben zuvor gezeigt, dass microRNA-212/132 in hypoxischen mikrovaskulären Endothelzellen erhöht ist und durch die Unterdrückung der Expression direkter Zielgene mit Funktion and der BHS wirkt. Zu den Zielgenen von microRNA-212/132 gehören: Claudin-1, Junctional Adhesion Molecule 3 (Jam3) und Tight Junction Associated Protein 1 (Tjap1). Während die Rolle von Caludin-1 und Jam3 and der BHS gut bekannt ist, ist die Rolle von Tjap1 noch unklar. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es daher, die Rolle von Tjap1 in Endothelzellen mithilfe eines Knock-down (KD)-Ansatzes in etablierten murinen In-vitro-BHS-Modellen zu charakterisieren. Tjap1-KD wurde durch stabile Transfektion eines Plasmids etabliert, das shRNA gegen Tjap1 exprimiert. Die erfolgreiche Herunterregulierung von Tjap1-mRNA und -Protein wurde durch qPCR und Western Blot nachgewiesen. Tjap1-KD führte zu einer Beeinträchtigung der Barriereeigenschaften von Endothelzellen, was sich in niedrigeren TEER-Werten und einer höheren parazellulären Permeabilität wiederspiegelte. Interessanterweise zeigten die Tjap1-KD-Zellen in einem Wundheilungstest eine geringere Zelllebensfähigkeit und Proliferation, wanderten jedoch schneller. Im tube formation assay zeigten Tjap1-KD-Zelllinien ein geringeres Angiogenese-Potential durch eine signifikant geringere Anzahl der gebildeten Kapillaren. Tjap-1-KD-Zellen zeigten Veränderungen in der Gen- und Proteinexpression. Die TJ-Proteinen Claudin-5, Jam3 und ZO-1 waren in Tjap1-KD-Zelllinien signifikant erhöht, während Occludin stark verringert war. Darüber hinaus wurde P-Glykoprotein in Tjap1-KD-Zellen herunterreguliert. Sauerstoff-Glukose-Entzug (eng. oxygen/glucose-deprivation, OGD) ist eine Methode zur Nachahmung eines Schlaganfall in vitro. Mit OGD behandelte Endothelzelllinien zeigten im Vergleich zu unter normalen Bedingungen kultivierten Zellen geringere Barriereeigenschaften. Diese Effekte waren in Tjap1-KD-Zellen schwerwiegender, was auf eine aktive Beteiligung von Tjap1 an der OGD-Antwort in Endothelzellen hinweist. Wir haben gezeigt, dass Tjap1 zu einer dichten Barriere der BHS beiträgt, die Zellviabilität und die Proliferation von Endothelzellen reguliert, deren Migration unterdrückt und die Bildung neuer Gefäße fördert. Dies bedeutet, dass die Tjap1-Funktion für die reife BHS-Struktur unter physiologischen und pathophysiologischen Bedingungen wichtig ist. KW - Schlaganfall KW - Blut-Hirn-Schranke KW - blood-brain barrier KW - Tjap1 KW - oxygen/glucose deprivation KW - stroke Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-346450 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gunkel, Sarah A1 - Schötzau, Andreas A1 - Fluri, Felix T1 - Burden of cerebral small vessel disease and changes of diastolic blood pressure affect clinical outcome after acute ischemic stroke JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Elevated and low blood pressure (BP) may lead to poor functional outcome after ischemic stroke, which is conflicting. Hence, there must be another factor—such as cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) -interacting with BP and thus, affecting outcome. Here, we investigate the relationship between BP and cSVD regarding outcome after stroke. Data of 423/503 stroke patients were prospectively analyzed. Diastolic (DBP) and systolic BP (SBP) were collected on hospital admission (BP\(_{ad}\)) and over the first 72 h (BP\(_{72h}\)). cSVD-burden was determined on MR-scans. Good functional outcome was defined as a modified Rankin Scale score ≤ 2 at hospital discharge and 12 months thereafter. cSVD was a predictor of poor outcome (OR 2.8; p < 0.001). SBPad, DBP\(_{ad}\) and SBP\(_{72h}\) were not significantly associated with outcome at any time. A significant relationship was found between DBP\(_{72h}\), (p < 0.01), cSVD (p = 0.013) and outcome at discharge. At 12 months, we found a relationship between outcome and DBP\(_{72h}\) (p = 0.018) and a statistical tendency regarding cSVD (p = 0.08). Changes in DBP72h were significantly related with outcome. There was a U-shaped relationship between DBP\(_{72h}\) and outcome at discharge. Our results suggest an individualized stroke care by either lowering or elevating DBP depending on cSVD-burden in order to influence functional outcome. KW - cerebrovascular disorders KW - neurological disorders KW - stroke KW - white matter disease Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-357669 VL - 13 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kleih-Dahms, Sonja C. A1 - Botrel, Loic T1 - Neurofeedback therapy to improve cognitive function in patients with chronic post-stroke attention deficits: a within-subjects comparison JF - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience N2 - Introduction We investigated a slow-cortical potential (SCP) neurofeedback therapy approach for rehabilitating chronic attention deficits after stroke. This study is the first attempt to train patients who survived stroke with SCP neurofeedback therapy. Methods We included N = 5 participants in a within-subjects follow-up design. We assessed neuropsychological and psychological performance at baseline (4 weeks before study onset), before study onset, after neurofeedback training, and at 3 months follow-up. Participants underwent 20 sessions of SCP neurofeedback training. Results Participants learned to regulate SCPs toward negativity, and we found indications for improved attention after the SCP neurofeedback therapy in some participants. Quality of life improved throughout the study according to engagement in activities of daily living. The self-reported motivation was related to mean SCP activation in two participants. Discussion We would like to bring attention to the potential of SCP neurofeedback therapy as a new rehabilitation method for treating post-stroke cognitive deficits. Studies with larger samples are warranted to corroborate the results. KW - stroke KW - slow cortical potentials (SCP) KW - attention deficit KW - neurofeedback training KW - self-efficacy KW - brain-computer interfaces (BCI) Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-322454 VL - 17 ER -