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TRPV4 Regulates Soman-Induced Status Epilepticus and Secondary Brain Injury via NMDA Receptor and NLRP3 Inflammasome

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Abstract

Nerve agents are used in civil wars and terrorist attacks, posing a threat to public safety. Acute exposure to nerve agents such as soman (GD) causes serious brain damage, leading to death due to intense seizures induced by acetylcholinesterase inhibition and neuronal injury resulting from increased excitatory amino-acid levels and neuroinflammation. However, data on the anticonvulsant and neuroprotective efficacies of currently-used countermeasures are limited. Here, we evaluated the potential effects of transient receptor vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) in the treatment of soman-induced status epilepticus (SE) and secondary brain injury. We demonstrated that TRPV4 expression was markedly up-regulated in rat hippocampus after soman-induced seizures. Administration of the TRPV4 antagonist GSK2193874 prior to soman exposure significantly decreased the mortality rate in rats and reduced SE intensity. TRPV4-knockout mice also showed lower incidence of seizures and higher survival rates than wild-type mice following soman exposure. Further in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated that blocking TRPV4 prevented NMDA receptor-mediated glutamate excitotoxicity. The protein levels of the NLRP3 inflammasome complex and its downstream cytokines IL-1β and IL-18 increased in soman-exposed rat hippocampus. However, TRPV4 inhibition or deletion markedly reversed the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway. In conclusion, our study suggests that the blockade of TRPV4 protects against soman exposure and reduces brain injury following SE by decreasing NMDA receptor-mediated excitotoxicity and NLRP3-mediated neuroinflammation. To our knowledge, this is the first study regarding the “dual-switch” function of TRPV4 in the treatment of soman intoxication.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Special Fund for Military Medical Science (AWS15J007 and BWS16J007) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81703505).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100850, China

    Shuai Wang, Huanhuan He, Jianhai Long, Xin Sui, Jun Yang, Guodong Lin, Qian Wang, Yongan Wang & Yuan Luo

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  1. Shuai Wang
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  2. Huanhuan He
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Wang, S., He, H., Long, J. et al. TRPV4 Regulates Soman-Induced Status Epilepticus and Secondary Brain Injury via NMDA Receptor and NLRP3 Inflammasome. Neurosci. Bull. 37, 905–920 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12264-021-00662-3

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