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Zhang X, Peng B, Zhang S, Wang J, Yuan X, Peled S, Chen W, Ding J, Li W, Zhang A, Wu Q, Stavrovskaya IG, Luo C, Sinha B, Tu Y, Yuan X, Li M, Liu S, Fu J, Aziz-Sultan A, Kristal BS, Alterovitz G, Du R, Zhou S, Wang X. The MT1 receptor as the target of ramelteon neuroprotection in ischemic stroke. J Pineal Res 2024; 76:e12925. [PMID: 37986632 PMCID: PMC10872556 DOI: 10.1111/jpi.12925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
Stroke is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Novel and effective therapies for ischemic stroke are urgently needed. Here, we report that melatonin receptor 1A (MT1) agonist ramelteon is a neuroprotective drug candidate as demonstrated by comprehensive experimental models of ischemic stroke, including a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) mouse model of cerebral ischemia in vivo, organotypic hippocampal slice cultures ex vivo, and cultured neurons in vitro; the neuroprotective effects of ramelteon are diminished in MT1-knockout (KO) mice and MT1-KO cultured neurons. For the first time, we report that the MT1 receptor is significantly depleted in the brain of MCAO mice, and ramelteon treatment significantly recovers the brain MT1 losses in MCAO mice, which is further explained by the Connectivity Map L1000 bioinformatic analysis that shows gene-expression signatures of MCAO mice are negatively connected to melatonin receptor agonist like Ramelteon. We demonstrate that ramelteon improves the cerebral blood flow signals in ischemic stroke that is potentially mediated, at least, partly by mechanisms of activating endothelial nitric oxide synthase. Our results also show that the neuroprotection of ramelteon counteracts reactive oxygen species-induced oxidative stress and activates the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase-1 pathway. Ramelteon inhibits the mitochondrial and autophagic death pathways in MCAO mice and cultured neurons, consistent with gene set enrichment analysis from a bioinformatics perspective angle. Our data suggest that Ramelteon is a potential neuroprotective drug candidate, and MT1 is the neuroprotective target for ischemic stroke, which provides new insights into stroke therapy. MT1-KO mice and cultured neurons may provide animal and cellular models of accelerated ischemic damage and neuronal cell death.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinmu Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
- Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Bin Peng
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
- Department of Neurology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, China
| | - Shenqi Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, China
| | - Jian Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Xiong Yuan
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Sharon Peled
- Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Wu Chen
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Sinopharm Dongfeng General Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei, China
| | - Jinyin Ding
- Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Wei Li
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Andrew Zhang
- Biomedical Cybernetics Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Qiaofeng Wu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Irina G. Stavrovskaya
- Department of Medicine, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Research Foundation of The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Chengliang Luo
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Bharati Sinha
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Yanyang Tu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Xiaojing Yuan
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Mingchang Li
- Department of Neurosurgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, China
| | - Shuqing Liu
- Acupuncture and Moxibustion College, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Jianfang Fu
- Department of Endocrinology, Xijing Hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
- The Joslin Beth Israel Deaconess Foot Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Ali Aziz-Sultan
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Bruce S. Kristal
- Department of Medicine, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Gil Alterovitz
- Biomedical Cybernetics Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Rose Du
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Shuanhu Zhou
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Xin Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
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