Microglial SIX2 suppresses lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced neuroinflammation by up-regulating FXYD2 expression

Brain Res Bull. 2024 Jun 15:212:110970. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2024.110970. Epub 2024 Apr 28.

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a severe neurodegenerative disease associated with the loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra (SN). Although its pathogenesis remains unclear, microglia-mediated neuroinflammation significantly contributes to the development of PD. Here we showed that the sine oculis homeobox (SIX) homologue family transcription factors SIX2 exerted significant effects on neuroinflammation. The SIX2 protein, which is silenced during development, was reactivated in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated microglia. The reactivated SIX2 in microglia mitigated the LPS induced inflammatory effects, and then reduced the toxic effect of conditioned media (CM) of microglia on co-cultured MES23.5 DA cells. Using the LPS-stimulated Cx3cr1-CreERT2 mouse model, we also demonstrated that the highly-expressed SIX2 in microglia obviously attenuated neuroinflammation and protected the DA neurons in SN. Further RNA-Seq analysis on the inflammatory activated microglia revealed that the SIX2 exerted these effects via up-regulating the FXYD domain containing ion transport regulator 2 (FXYD2). Taken together, our study demonstrated that SIX2 was an endogenous anti-inflammatory factor in microglia, and it exerted anti-neuroinflammatory effects by regulating the expression of FXYD2, which provides new ideas for anti-neuroinflammation in PD.

Keywords: FXYD2; Microglia; Neuroinflammation; Parkinson’s disease; SIX2.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Dopaminergic Neurons / drug effects
  • Dopaminergic Neurons / metabolism
  • Homeodomain Proteins* / genetics
  • Homeodomain Proteins* / metabolism
  • Inflammation / chemically induced
  • Inflammation / metabolism
  • Lipopolysaccharides* / pharmacology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Microglia* / drug effects
  • Microglia* / metabolism
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / genetics
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / metabolism
  • Neuroinflammatory Diseases* / metabolism
  • Parkinson Disease / metabolism
  • Substantia Nigra / drug effects
  • Substantia Nigra / metabolism
  • Up-Regulation* / drug effects

Substances

  • Homeodomain Proteins
  • Lipopolysaccharides
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Fxyd2 protein, mouse
  • Six2 protein, mouse