摘要
Background: Blocking the Rho A/ROCK Ⅱ/MLC 2(Ras homolog gene family member A/Rho kinase Ⅱ/myosin light chain 2) signaling pathway can initiate neuroprotective mechanisms against neurological diseases such as stroke, cerebral ischemia, and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether and how disrupting the Rho A/ROCK Ⅱ/MLC 2 signaling pathway changes the pathogenic processes of the blood–brain barrier(BBB) after intracerebral hemorrhage(ICH). The present investigation included the injection of rat caudal vein blood into the basal ganglia area to replicate the pathophysiological conditions caused by ICH. Methods: Scalp acupuncture(SA) therapy was performed on rats with ICH at the acupuncture point “Baihui”-penetrating “Qubin,” and the ROCK selective inhibitor fasudil was used as a positive control to evaluate the inhibitory effect of acupuncture on the Rho A/ROCK Ⅱ/MLC 2 signaling pathway. Post-assessments included neurological deficits, brain edema, Evans blue extravasation, Western blot, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and transmission electron microscope imaging. Results: We found that ROCK Ⅱ acts as a promoter of the Rho A/ROCK Ⅱ/MLC 2 signaling pathway, and its expression increased at 6 h after ICH, peaked at 3 days, and then decreased at 7 days after ICH, but was still higher than the preintervention level. According to some experimental results, although 3 days is the peak, 7 days is the best time point for acupuncture treatment. Starting from 6 h after ICH, the neurovascular structure and endothelial cell morphology around the hematoma began to change. Based on the changes in the promoter ROCK Ⅱ, a 7-day time point was selected as the breakthrough point for treating ICH model rats in the main experiment. The results of this experiment showed that both SA at “Baihui”-penetrating “Qubin” and treatment with fasudil could improve the expression of endothelial-related proteins by inhibiting the Rho A/ROCK Ⅱ/MLC 2 signaling pathway and reduce neurological dysfunction, brain edema, and BBB permeability in rats. Conclusion: This study found that these experimental data indicated that SA at “Baihui”-penetrating “Qubin” could preserve BBB integrity and neurological function recovery after ICH by inhibiting Rho A/ROCK Ⅱ/MLC 2 signaling pathway activation and by regulating endothelial cell–related proteins.
基金
supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(numbers:81774416 and 81473764)。
