초록 열기/닫기 버튼
To explore the potential function of interleukin-13 (IL-13), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or PBS as a control was unilaterally microinjected into striatum of rat brain. Seven days after LPS injection, there was a significant loss of neurons and microglial activation in the striatum, visualized by immunohistochemical staining against neuronal nuclei (NeuN) and the OX-42 (complement receptor type 3, CR3), respectively. In parallel, IL-13 immunoreactivity was increased as early as 3 days and sustained up to 7 days post LPS injection, compared to PBS-injected control and detected exclusively within microglia. Moreover, GFAP immunostaining and blood brain barrier (BBB) permeability evaluation showed the loss of astro- cytes and disruption of BBB, respectively. By contrast, treatment with IL-13 neutralizing antibody (IL-13NA) protects NeuN+ neurons against LPS- induced neurotoxicity in vivo . Accompanying neuroprotection, IL-13NA reduced loss of GFAP+ astrocytes and damage of BBB in LPS-injected striatum. Intriguingly, treatment with IL-13NA produced neurotrophic factors (NTFs) on survived astrocytes in LPS-injected rat striatum. Taken together, the present study suggests that LPS induces expression of IL-13 on microglia, which contributes to neurodegeneration via damage on as- trocytes and BBB disruption in the striatum in vivo .
