Identification of pyroptosis-related immune signature and drugs for ischemic stroke

AIM2 inflammasome: A potential therapeutic target in ischemic stroke

Ischemic stroke (IS) is a significant global public health issue with a high incidence, disability, and mortality rate. A robust inflammatory cascade with complex and wide-ranging mechanisms occurs following ischemic brain injury. Inflammasomes are multiprotein complexes in the cytoplasm that modulate the inflammatory response by releasing pro-inflammatory cytokines and inducing cellular pyroptosis. Among these inflammasomes, the Absent in Melanoma 2 (AIM2) inflammasome shows the ability to detect a wide range of pathogen DNAs, thereby triggering an inflammatory response. Recent studies have indicated that the aberrant expression of AIM2 inflammasome in various cells is closely associated with the pathological processes of ischemic brain injury. This paper summarizes the expression and regulatory role of AIM2 in CNS and peripheral immune cells and discusses current therapeutic approaches targeting AIM2 inflammasome. These findings aim to serve as a reference for future research in this field.

N6-methyladenosine modulation classes and immune microenvironment regulation in ischemic stroke

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modifications play an important role in the differentiation and regulation of immune cells. However, research on m6A in ischemic stroke (IS) is still in its infancy, and their role of the immune microenvironment remains unknown. In this study, we systematically assessed the modification classes of m6A regulators in IS based on the GEO database (GSE16561 and GSE22255). We found that in IS patients, IGF2BP2, IGF2BP1, and YTHDF2 expression was significantly upregulated, and ELAVL1, LRPPRC, METTL3, ALKBH5, CBLL1, and METTL14 expression was significantly downregulated. Seven IS-related genes (ELAVL1, IGF2BP2, LRPPRC, YTHDF2, ALKBH5, METTL14, and YTHDC1) were finally screened by logistic and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regressions, and the AUC of the riskScore was 0.942, which was a good classification. For immune infiltration, there were highly significant differences in memory B cells, CD8 T cells, monocytes, activated dendritic cells, and mast cells between IS and normal samples. The IS samples were grouped into three classes by consistent clustering, and 15 m6A genes were differentially expressed in the different classes. Multiple infiltrating immune cells, immune-associated genes, and HLA-associated genes differed significantly across m6A modification classes, indicating the diversity and complexity of m6A modifications in the immune microenvironment of IS. Finally, 487 genes associated with the m6A modification class were identified, and 227 potential drugs were found. Our findings demonstrated that m6A modification plays a crucial role in the immune regulation of IS.