Open AccessScorpion Venom Heat-Resistant Peptide is Neuroprotective against Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Association with the NMDA-MAPK Pathway
Author(s) -
Xu-Gang Wang,
Dandan Zhu,
Na Li,
YueLin Huang,
Yingzi Wang,
Ting Zhang,
Chen-Mei Wang,
Bin Wang,
Yan Peng,
Bi-Ying Ge,
Shao Li,
Jie Zhao
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
neuroscience bulletin/neuroscience bulletin
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1673-7067
pISSN - 1995-8218
DOI - 10.1007/s12264-019-00425-1
Subject(s) - neuroprotection , excitotoxicity , pharmacology , medicine , ischemia , reperfusion injury , nmda receptor , anesthesia , receptor
Scorpion venom heat-resistant peptide (SVHRP) is a component purified from Buthus martensii Karsch scorpion venom. Our previous studies have shown that SVHRP is neuroprotective in models of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The present study aimed to explore the potential neuroprotective effects of SVHRP on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, using a mouse model of middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) and a cellular model of oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R). Our results showed that SVHRP treatment decreased the neurological deficit scores, edema formation, infarct volume and neuronal loss in the MCAO/R mice, and protected primary neurons against OGD/R insult. SVHRP pretreatment suppressed the alterations in protein levels of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) and phosphorylated p38 MAPK as well as some proinflammatory factors in both the animal and cellular models. These results suggest that SVHRP has neuroprotective effects against cerebral I/R injury, which might be associated with inhibition of the NMDA-MAPK-mediated excitotoxicity.