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The Journal of Neuroscience, January 1, 2002, 22(1):38-43
Interleukin-1 Influences Ischemic Brain Damage in the Mouse
Independently of the Interleukin-1 Type I Receptor
Omar
Touzani*, *,
Herve
Boutin*, *,
Rosalind
LeFeuvre,
Lisa
Parker,
Andy
Miller,
Giamal
Luheshi, and
Nancy
Rothwell
School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, M13 9PT,
United Kingdom
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ABSTRACT |
The cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1 ) contributes to ischemic,
excitotoxic, and traumatic brain injury. IL-1 actions depend on
interaction with a single receptor (IL-1RI), which associates with an
accessory protein (IL-1RAcP), and is blocked by IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra). Here we show that in normal mice [wild-type (WT)], intracerebroventricular injection of IL-1ra markedly reduces ( 50%; p < 0.01) ischemic brain damage caused by
reversible occlusion of the middle cerebral artery, whereas injection
of IL-1 exacerbates damage (+45%; p < 0.05).
Mice lacking IL-1RI [IL-1RI knock-out (KO)] exhibited ischemic
brain damage that is almost identical to that of the WT (infarct volume
43.7 ± 6.1 and 46.2 ± 6.2 mm3,
respectively), but failed to respond to injection of IL-1ra. However,
injection of IL-1 (intracerebroventricularly) exacerbated ischemic
brain damage in IL-1RI KO (+61%; p < 0.001) and
in WT mice (+45%). This effect of IL-1 was abolished by heat
denaturation in all animals, and was reversed by IL-1ra in
WT, but not IL-1RI KO mice. In contrast, IL-1RI KO mice were completely
resistant to effects of IL-1 on food intake or body weight. IL-1RAcP
mRNA was increased by stroke in WT, but reduced in IL-1RI KO mice
compared with sham-operated mice. Type II IL-1 receptor mRNA was
significantly increased 4 hr after ischemia in WT and IL-1RI KO (+20%) animals.
These data show that IL-1 can exacerbate ischemic brain damage
independently of IL-1RI and suggest the existence of additional signaling receptor or receptors for IL-1 in the brain.
Key words:
cerebrovascular accident; brain infarction; receptors; interleukin-1; mice; knock-out; cytokines
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INTRODUCTION |
The cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1)
has diverse actions in the brain, where it has been identified as a
mediator of several forms of neurodegeneration (Rothwell et al., 1997 ;
Touzani et al., 1999 ). Expression of both forms of IL-1 (IL-1 and
IL-1 ) is increased rapidly in response to experimental or clinical
insults, such as head injury, cerebral ischemia, infusion of
excitotoxins, seizures, or CNS infections, and in diseases such as
Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple
sclerosis, epilepsy, and Alzheimer disease (Mogi et al., 1994 ; Touzani
et al., 1999 ; Zhu et al., 1999 ; Mrak and Griffin, 2000 ). Thus,
understanding the mechanisms of IL-1 action in the brain is of
considerable biological and clinical importance.
In rodents, intracerebroventricular administration of recombinant
IL-1 fails to cause cell damage directly, but markedly exacerbates
ischemic, excitotoxic, or traumatic brain injury (Yamasaki et al.,
1995 ; Loddick and Rothwell, 1996 ; Allan et al., 2000 ). In contrast,
administration of the naturally occurring IL-1 receptor antagonist
(IL-1ra) to rodents attenuates, by >50%, neuronal damage caused
by such insults (Relton and Rothwell, 1992 ; Garcia et al., 1995 ;
Toulmond and Rothwell, 1995 ; Loddick and Rothwell, 1996 ; Lawrence et
al., 1998 ).
IL-1 is believed to exert all of its actions by binding to a single
receptor (IL-1RI, 80 kDa) (Dinarello, 1996 ). Signal transduction is
elicited by interaction of this receptor with an accessory protein
(IL-1RAcP) (Greenfeder et al., 1995 ; Wesche et al., 1997 ). IL-1ra also
binds to the IL-1RI, but fails to cause association with IL-1RAcP or
initiate signal transduction, and acts as a highly selective,
competitive, receptor antagonist, which blocks all the known actions of
IL-1 (Arend et al., 1998 ). Mice lacking the IL-1RI fail to show the
normal responses to IL-1, such as suppression of appetite and fever
(Labow et al., 1997 ). A second IL-1 receptor (IL-1RII; 68 kDa) binds
IL-1, but fails to initiate signal transduction, and can limit the
biological activity of IL-1 (Colotta et al., 1994 ).
In spite of these established mechanisms of IL-1 action, some
significant questions remain about IL-1 receptors in the CNS. IL-1RI is
expressed in brain regions such as the hippocampus and choroid plexus
(Takao et al., 1992 ; Loddick et al., 1998 ; French et al., 1999 ), but is
barely detectable at major sites of IL-1 action (i.e., the hypothalamus
and striatum) (French et al., 1999 ; Allan et al., 2000 ). By contrast,
IL-1RAcP, which as far as is known, serves only to bind to IL-1RI, is
expressed much more abundantly than IL-1RI, throughout the brain (Liu
et al., 1996 ; Loddick et al., 1998 ). There has thus been much
speculation about the presence of additional IL-1 receptors in the
brain (Glaccum et al., 1997 ; Rothwell, 1999 ; Born et al., 2000 ;
Rothwell and Luheshi, 2000 ). The objective of this study was to
determine the role of IL-1RI in brain damage, by studying the effects
of injections of IL-1 and IL-1ra on neuronal death induced by
cerebral ischemia in wild-type (WT) and IL-1RI knock-out (IL-1RI KO) mice.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Mice. Experiments were performed on male WT
(C57xSV129, F2 generation) and IL-1RI KO mice kindly provided by
Immunex Corporation (Seattle, WA). WT mice were compared with those in
which the IL-1 receptor (IL-1RI) gene had been deleted by homologous
recombination (IL-1RI KO) (Glaccum et al., 1997 ).
Successful deletion of IL-1RI has been previously confirmed
by Southern blot analysis (Glaccum et al., 1997 ) and was verified in
the mice used in the present study by PCR analysis of genomic DNA,
using the following primers:
5'-GAGTTACCCGAGGTCCAG-3', 5'-GAAGAAGCTCACGTTGTC-3',
5'-GCGAATGGGCTGACCCGCT-3'.
The animals were housed in a controlled environment of 12 hr light/dark
cycle (8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M.) at 22°C. All experiments were
performed in accordance with United Kingdom legislation under the 1986 Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act.
The animals were studied at 8-10 weeks of age and weighed between 24 and 32 gm at the time of use. Anesthesia was induced by inhalation of
4% halothane and maintained with halothane (1.0-1.5%) in
N2O and O2 (70 and 30%).
Body temperature was maintained during the whole surgical procedure at
36.5-37.5°C with a heating lamp.
In parallel, the cerebrovasculature of the animals was examined using
intracardiac injection of carbon black ink. WT and IL-1RI KO mice were
anesthetized with pentobarbital (pentobarbitone sodium; 250 mg/kg,
i.p.). An incision was performed along the thorax to expose the heart,
and the left cardiac ventricle was cannulated and perfused with 4%
paraformaldehyde (PFA) for 5 min (2 ml/min), followed by ink
(Quink Parker) diluted in PFA 4% (1:5 v/v). Brains were
carefully removed, left in 4% PFA overnight, and the Circle of
Willis and major arteries were carefully examined under surgical microscope (Stemi SV11; Leica-Zeiss).
Induction of cerebral ischemia. Focal cerebral ischemia was
induced by occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery (MCA) using
the intraluminal filament technique (Clark et al., 1997 ; Hata et al.,
1998 ). After midline neck incision, the common carotid artery (CCA) was
isolated and ligated proximally with a 6.0 silk suture. The external
carotid artery was also isolated and cauterized. A 6.0 silk suture was
placed around the internal carotid artery to avoid bleeding through the
arteriotomy when introducing the filament into the CCA. A nylon
monofilament (8.0; Ethicon) coated with "thermo-melting" glue (Jet
Melt; Radiospares) was introduced through an incision in the CCA, and
advanced gently up to the origin of the MCA. The diameter of the tip
was 180 µm. Animals were maintained under anesthesia throughout the
30 min period of ischemia. This duration of ischemia was chosen because
it induces a reproducible injury, whereas longer durations were
associated with significant mortality. To allow reperfusion, the
occluding filament was withdrawn gently. The animals were then allowed
to recover from anesthesia. In sham-operated mice, the same surgical procedure was performed, except that the filament was not advanced to
occlude the MCA.
Measurement of cerebral blood flow. In each animal, laser
doppler flowmetry (Moor Instruments) was used to monitor cerebral blood
flow (CBF) continuously, before and during MCA occlusion (MCAo), and
during reperfusion. After a small incision of the skin overlying the
temporalis muscle, a 0.7 mm, flexible, laser Doppler probe (model P10;
Moor Instruments) was positioned on the superior portion of the
temporal bone (6 mm lateral and 2 mm posterior from the bregma) and
secured with glue. This position corresponded to the center of the
ischemic territory. Animals were included only when CBF was reduced by
>70% during ischemia, and successful reperfusion was subsequently achieved.
Measurement of infarct volume. Twenty-four hours after MCAo
(when damage is complete in this protocol), mice were killed by anesthetic overdose with halothane and decapitated. Brains were removed
and frozen in cooled ( 30°C) isopentane. Coronal brain sections were
cut serially (20 µm at 200 µm intervals) with a cryostat and
stained with cresyl fast violet to identify viable tissue. The
infarcted area was quantified (blind to the primary investigator), by
automated image analysis (Scion Imaging, Cambridge, UK). To correct for
the effect of edema, the infarcted area was determined indirectly by
subtracting the area of the healthy tissue in the ipsilateral
hemisphere from the area of the contralateral hemisphere on each
section, as described previously (Lin et al., 1993 ). Infarction volume
was calculated by integration of infarct areas measured in 10 equidistant brain slices that encompassed the whole lesion.
Administration of substances. Guide cannulas were implanted
stereotaxically into the right lateral cerebral ventricle of the brain
under halothane anesthesia (1.5% in
N2O-O2 at 70:30), 7 d
before MCAo, to permit administration of substances
intracerebroventricularly. All drugs were dissolved in sterile, 0.9%
saline and administered randomly into the cerebral ventricles 30 min
before occlusion and 10 min after reperfusion (i.e., 40 min after
induction of MCAo). For each administration, a volume of 1 µl was
infused over 5 min. Recombinant mouse IL-1 was a generous gift from
Dr. Steve Poole (NIBSC, UK). Human recombinant IL-1ra was purchased
from Preprotech (Rocky Hill, NJ).
Measurement of food intake and body weight. Animals were
housed individually for these studies. Intake of normal food (Beekay) was measured over a period of 24 hr after intracerebroventricular (1 µl) injection of vehicle (0.9% saline) or IL-1 (2.5 ng) as described above, at 8:00 P.M. Body weight was recorded just before injection and again 24 hr later.
Standard-calibrated competitive RT-PCR. Competitive RT-PCR
was used to quantify IL-1RII and IL-1RAcP expression and conducted as
described previously (Allan et al., 2000 ), with some
modifications. PCR amplification was performed with specific primers
for IL-1RAcP: sense 5'-TCCTCTGGACTTACCCTGATCT-3',
antisense 5'-AACCCTTATACCAAGTGACCG-3' (354 bp product) and
IL-1RII: sense 5'-AGATGAGCCAAGGATGTGGG-3', antisense 5'-ATCAATAGGCGTGTGGGGTC-3' (339 bp product).
The PCR program (cycling profile) was 3 min at 95°C, then
denaturation at 95°C for 30 sec, annealing at 64°C (IL-1RAcP) or 62°C (IL-1RII) for 30 sec, and extension at 72°C for 1 min repeated for 36 cycles, and a 10 min final extension period at 72°C. The absence of PCR products in control samples without reverse
transcription of RNA was confirmed, and restriction enzyme digests of
the RT-PCR products were performed to provide additional confirmation
of the primer and product specificity. Competitive cRNA standards were
synthesized using the conventional forward primer with a standard
reverse primer:
IL-1RAcP: 5'-ACCCTTATACCAAGTGACCGGTGAATACCCTGTTCAATAT-3';
IL-1R2: 5'-ATCAATAGGCGTGTGGGGTCTATACCACTGTATCTTTCCA-3'
to give products that were shorter (IL-1RAcP: 303 bp; IL-1RII 289 bp)
than the conventional product, but were amplified by the original
primers (Celi et al., 1993 ). Results, determined by comparison with the
competitive standard, were expressed as percentage of change compared
with tissue from sham-operated animals. Quantification of PCR product
(picograms per microgram of total mRNA) has been done using
Northern Eclipse image analysis software, and potential changes were
expressed as percentage of sham-operated groups.
Data analysis. The data are presented as mean ± SEM.
To determine differences in infarct volumes between groups, a
multiparametric ANOVA was performed with two factors: strain (WT or
IL-1RI KO) and treatment (saline, IL-1 , or IL-1ra) followed by PLSD
Fisher post hoc test (Statview 5.0). Food intake and body
weight changes were analyzed through the use of unpaired t
tests. For mRNA expression, a Mann-Whitney U test was used
to compare sham-operated versus MCAo mice, and WT versus IL-1RI KO
mice. For CBF data, a repeated-measure ANOVA was undertaken with three
factors: time (as repeated factor), strain, and treatment, and no
further analysis was required because the ANOVA did not reach
statistical significance. Statistical significance was considered as a
probability of <5% (two-tailed).
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RESULTS |
Food intake and body weight
Vehicle-treated animals exhibited normal food intake and showed
the expected increase in body weight over the period of measurement (Fig. 1). In accordance with published
data, intracerebroventricular administration of IL-1 (2.5 ng,
i.c.v.), significantly inhibited voluntary food intake ( 60%;
p < 0.001) and reduced body weight ( 1.8 gm;
p < 0.001) in WT mice over 24 hr, but failed to alter these parameters in IL-1RI KO mice (Fig. 1).

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Figure 1.
Effects of injection vehicle (saline) or
recombinant IL-1, injected intracerebroventricularly on food intake
(a) and body weight (b) in
WT (open bars) and IL-1RI knock-out mice (closed
bars). Food intake and body weight were measured over 24 hr
after injections. Mean values ± SEM; n = 6 per group; ***p < 0.001 versus respective
vehicle-treated group (unpaired t test).
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Damage caused by MCAo and effects of IL-1ra
Study of the gross cerebrovasculature did not reveal any
difference between WT and IL-1RI KO mice (data not shown).
Brain damage studied 24 hr after temporary MCAo was almost identical in
WT (46.2 ± 6.2 mm3) and IL-1RI KO
mice (43.7 ± 6.1 mm3) (Fig.
2). Intracerebroventricular injection of
saline did not modify significantly the volume of infarction compared
with no treatment in any mice (data not shown). Injection of IL-1ra
(2.5 µg, i.c.v.), administered 30 min before and 40 min after MCAo (10 min after reperfusion), significantly reduced infarct volume in WT
mice ( 50%; p < 0.01) compared with saline
administration, but had no effect on damage in IL-1RI KO mice (Fig. 2).
Edema did not differ significantly between any of the groups studied (8.3 ± 3.5, 10.0 ± 2.4, 7.2 ± 4.2, and
14.2 ± 2.6 mm3 in WT/saline,
WT/IL-1ra, IL-1RI KO/saline, and IL-1RI KO/IL-1ra, respectively).
Rectal temperature at the time of occlusion was not different between
groups (WT/saline, 37.0 ± 0.1 and WT/IL-1ra, 36.9 ± 0.1;
IL-1RI KO/saline, 37.1 ± 0.0 and IL-1RI KO/IL-1ra, 37.1 ± 0.1°C). Analysis of CBF did not show any difference between WT and
IL-1RI KO or between groups receiving any treatment, and CBF was
reduced by >75% in all groups during MCAo compared with preocclusion
values.

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Figure 2.
Extent of injury (infarct volume,
mm3) measured 24 hr after MCAo in wild-type
(open bars) and IL-1RI knock-out mice (closed
bars) injected intracerebroventricularly with vehicle (saline)
or IL-1ra (2.5 µg 30 min before and again 40 min after MCAo). Data
are mean values ± SEM; n = 8 per group;
**p < 0.01 versus respective saline-treated group
(ANOVA and PLSD Fisher post hoc test).
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Effects of IL-1 on MCAo-induced damage
IL-1 (2.5 ng, i.c.v.) administered, 30 min before and 40 min
after MCAo, resulted in marked increase in infarct size in WT (45%;
p < 0.01) and in IL-1RI KO mice (61%;
p < 0.01) (Fig. 3). These IL-1-induced increases in infarct volume were completely prevented by heat denaturation of IL-1 (95°C for 45 min) (Fig. 3).
Coadministration of IL-1ra prevented the increase in injury induced by
IL-1 in WT mice, but failed to influence the effect of IL-1 in
IL-1RI KO mice (+86% increase vs saline in IL-1RI KO mice;
p < 0.005) (Fig. 3). However, in WT mice, IL-1ra did not completely block the effect of IL-1, because WT mice receiving IL-1 and IL-1ra (Fig. 3) had a larger infarct than those receiving IL-1ra alone (Fig. 2) (WT/IL-1 + IL-1ra, 48.9 ± 7.7 mm3 versus WT/IL-1ra, 23.0 ± 4.5 mm3; p < 0.01). A lower
dose of IL-1 (1.25 ng) given before and after induction of ischemia,
induced a more modest increase in brain damage in WT (20%) and IL-1RI
KO mice (31%) (data not shown). IL-1 injection did not induce
significant changes in CBF (data not shown) or body temperature
measured during surgery in WT and IL-1RI KO mice (37.1 ± 0.1°C
in both strains receiving IL-1, 36.9 ± 0.2 and 37.0 ± 0.1°C in WT/IL-1+IL-1ra and IL-1RI KO/IL-1+IL-1ra, respectively) KO
mice. In parallel, brain edema was not significantly different between
WT and IL-1RI (WT/saline, 8.3 ± 3.5 mm3; WT/IL-1, 10.6 ± 2.8 mm3; WT/IL-1 + IL-1ra, 14.1 ± 5.3 mm3; IL-1RI KO/saline, 7.2 ± 4.2 mm3; IL-1RI KO/IL-1, 13.8 ± 2.6 mm3; IL-1RI/IL-1 + IL-1ra, 21.1 ± 6.9 mm3).

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Figure 3.
Effect of vehicle IL-1, IL-1 plus IL-1ra, or
heat-treated IL-1 on infarct volume measured 24 hr after MCAo in WT
(open bars) and IL-1RI KO (closed bars).
Mean values ± SEM; n = 8 for vehicle;
n = 9 for IL-1-treated animals;
n = 6 for IL-1 + IL-1ra and heat-treated
IL-1-treated animals. **p < 0.01;
***p < 0.005 versus respective saline-treated
group (ANOVA and PLSD Fisher post hoc test).
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Expression of IL-1RAcP and IL-1RII mRNA
In sham-operated groups, the levels of IL-1RAcP and IL-1RII were
slightly higher in IL-1RI KO than in WT mice at 4 hr (19.4 ± 0.3 vs 17.8 ± 0.6 pg/µg mRNA and 62.5 ± 0.8 vs 58.5 ± 1.2 pg/µg mRNA, respectively; p < 0.05), whereas no
difference was observed at 24 hr. After MCAo, expression of IL-1RAcP
mRNA (Fig. 4a) in the ischemic
hemisphere was increased significantly (+15%; p < 0.01) at 4 hr in wild-type mice, but was slightly reduced ( 8%) in
the cortex of IL-1RI KO mice (Fig. 4a) compared with the
sham-operated group, and no change was observed 24 hr after MCAo. At 4 hr after MCAO, the level of IL-1RAcP was significantly lower in IL-1RI KO mice compared with the WT mice (17.8 ± 0.3 vs 20.4 ± 0.2pg/µg; p < 0.05). mRNA for IL-1RII was increased
4 and 24 hr after MCAo in WT mice (+26 and +20%, respectively;
p < 0.01), and only at 4 hr (+11%; p < 0.05) in IL-1RI KO mice (Fig. 4b).

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Figure 4.
Expression determined by PCR analysis of IL-1RII
(A) and IL-1RAcP (B) mRNA
in cortex recorded 4 or 24 hr after sham surgery or MCAo in WT
(open bars) and IL-1RI KO mice (closed
bars). Mean values ± SEM; n numbers are
indicated in parentheses. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01 versus respective sham-operated
groups (Mann-Whitney U test).
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DISCUSSION |
The contribution of IL-1 to ischemic and other forms of acute
brain damage is now well established in rodents. Several independent groups have reported early increases in expression of IL-1 in response to cerebral ischemia in rodents (Davies et al., 1999 ; Touzani
et al., 1999 ; Legos et al., 2000 ). Injection of IL-1 does not cause
neuronal damage, but exacerbates the lesion caused by cerebral
ischemia, whereas administration of IL-1ra markedly reduces ischemic
damage, and protection is sustained for at least 7 d (Relton and
Rothwell, 1992 ; Martin et al., 1994 ; Garcia et al., 1995 ; Loddick and
Rothwell, 1996 ; Relton et al., 1996 ; Legos et al., 2000 ). The results
presented here in wild-type mice are in agreement with these previous
published data on rodents and show for the first time in mice that
injection of IL-1ra reduces infarct volume by 50%, without influencing
the severity of the primary insult (as determined from cerebral blood
flow), whereas injection of IL-1 significantly enhanced damage
(+45%). The effect of IL-1 on ischemic brain damage was reversed by
coadministration of IL-1ra in WT or by heat treatment of the cytokine
in both WT and IL-1RI KO mice, indicating the specificity of its effects.
All actions of IL-1 are believed to depend on interaction with the
IL-1RI, which must associate with IL-1RAcP to elicit intracellular signaling (Dinarello, 1996 ; Roux-Lombard, 1998 ), and activation of
IL-1RI by IL-1 is blocked by IL-1ra (Arend et al., 1998 ). Thus, mice in
which IL-1RI has been deleted by homologous recombination fail to show
responses to IL-1 (e.g., on food intake, body temperature), and
cells from these mice also fail to respond to IL-1 (Glaccum et al.,
1997 ; Labow et al., 1997 ; Josephs et al., 2000 ). In the present study,
WT mice showed predicted reductions of food intake and body weight in
response to intracerebroventricular injection of IL-1 , but these
responses were abolished in mice lacking IL-1RI. We also observed no
effect of IL-1 (over a range of concentrations) on release of IL-6,
or prostaglandin E2 or activation of c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase and extracellular signal-regulated
kinase in mixed glial cultures from IL-1RI KO mice, whereas
IL-1 induced significant responses in cells from WT cultures (data
not shown).
There has been considerable speculation about the presence and function
of additional IL-1 receptors in the brain. IL-1RI is expressed at very
low levels in the brain (Loddick et al., 1998 ; French et al., 1999 ),
even at primary sites of IL-1 (and IL-1ra) action in neurodegeneration
(i.e., the striatum and the hypothalamus) (Stroemer and Rothwell, 1997 ,
1998 ; Lawrence et al., 1998 ; Allan et al., 2000 ). In contrast, IL-1RAcP
appears to be expressed more widely throughout the CNS (Liu et al.,
1996 ). The data presented here show that IL-1 can exacerbate
ischemic brain damage independently of IL-1RI in the mouse.
The volume of infarction (Fig. 2) and extent of edema (see above)
caused by MCAo were very similar in WT and IL-1RI KO mice. This
similarity may reflect compensatory changes in other putative mediators
of neuronal death such as glutamate, nitric oxide, tumor necrosis
factor- or free radicals (Lee et al., 1999 ; Dirnagl et al.,
1999 ). However we have observed that in mice lacking genes for both
IL-1 and exposed to an identical protocol of MCAo, infarct
volume is reduced by >70% compared with wild-type mice (Boutin et
al., 2001 ). Thus, gene deletion of both IL-1 ligands dramatically
reduces brain damage and is not associated with compensatory changes.
Injection of IL-1ra failed to influence infarct volume in IL-1RI KO
mice, which is consistent with the interaction of IL-1ra with IL-1RI,
and may support the proposal that damage in these mice is attributable
to compensatory changes in other mediators of ischemic injury. However,
injection of IL-1 induced a significant increase (+61%) in infarct
volume in mice lacking IL-1R1, which was similar to the increase of
damage observed in WT mice. This increase in infarct volume was not
related to changes in brain edema, or to an increase in body
temperature measured during the period of surgery, which were similar
in both strains receiving saline or IL-1, although core temperature may
have increased after the period of surgery. The effect of IL-1 on
infarct volume in IL-1RI KO mice was not modified by IL-1ra, but was
abolished by heat treatment of IL-1 .
The mechanisms underlying exacerbation of ischemic brain damage by
IL-1 , even in WT animals are not known. Actions of IL-1 on body
temperature, endothelial, and blood-brain barrier injury, release of
nitric oxide, free radicals, and eicosanoids and induction of molecules
such as -amyloid-protein precursor may contribute to the injury
(Rothwell and Luheshi, 2000 ). Whether similar mechanisms operate in
mice lacking IL-1RI is unknown. Kluger et al. (1996) and our data on
IL-1 and actions in the brain on fever (Anforth et al., 1998 )
suggest that IL-1 may induce fever through a new receptor.
The effects of IL-1 on ischemic brain damage reported here are very
unlikely to be caused by nonspecific actions of IL-1 because: (1)
actions of the same preparation of IL-1 on food intake, body weight
(Fig. 1), or on signaling pathways involved in IL-1 action in mixed
glial cultures (data no shown) were completely absent in mice or cells
lacking IL-1RI, (2) heat treatment prevented the effects of IL-1 on
ischemic brain damage, (3) the effects of this same preparation of
IL-1 on fever are totally blocked by IL-1ra (data not shown), and
(4) we tested another preparation of IL-1 from a totally different
source, and this also exacerbated ischemic damage in IL-1RI KO mice
(data not shown).
These observations lead to the conclusions that IL-1 can influence
ischemic brain damage independently of IL-1RI and therefore presumably
via another known or unknown receptor, which might be expressed only in
the brain. It is possible that this reflects activation of a
low-affinity receptor, or one that is induced only in the absence of
IL-1RI, because IL-1 increased brain infarct in both WT and IL-1RI
KO mice, whereas IL-1ra markedly reduced ischemic brain damage in WT
mice and was ineffective in IL-1RI KO mice. Thus, under normal
circumstances, IL-1 (and IL-1ra) may act predominantly through IL-1RI.
However, IL-1ra consistently inhibits ischemic brain damage by 40-60%
(Touzani et al., 1999 ; Boutin et al., 2001 ), whereas deletion of both
IL-1 and IL-1 genes reduces such damage by >70% (Boutin et al.,
2001 ), suggesting that IL-1ra does not fully block all effects of
IL-1 and . Furthermore, whereas IL-1ra seemingly prevented the
effects of exogenous IL-1 on ischemic damage in WT animals, infarct
volume was only returned to the level of injury observed in saline
injected WT mice. Because a supramaximal dose of IL-1ra was used,
damage in WT mice treated with IL-1 and IL-1ra (Fig. 3) should have
been comparable with WT mice injected with saline and IL-1ra (Fig. 2).
The fact that the volume of injury was considerably greater in the
former group may suggest that an additional (i.e., not IL-1RI) receptor
or receptors contribute to neurodegeneration in normal mice.
It seems unlikely that IL-1 can act through IL-1RII because the
receptor has no intracellular domain, and its basal expression is only
slightly modified in IL-1RI KO mice (+6% in 4 hr sham-operated group,
and NS in 24 hr sham-operated group). Expression of IL-1RII was
increased in WT and IL-1RI KO mice 4 hr after ischemia, suggesting that
it is regulated independently of IL-1RI, although association of
IL-1RII with an unknown accessory protein may occur and could induce
signal transduction. However, a potential association of IL-1RII with
IL-1RAcP seems also unlikely because we showed in the present study a
significant increase in IL-1RAcP mRNA level in WT mice compared with a
decrease in IL-1RI KO mice after 4 hr of MCAo, suggesting that the
regulation of IL-1RAcP may be dependant of IL-1RI. In the absence of
mice lacking IL-1RII or neutralizing antibodies to this receptor, the
role of this receptor cannot yet be elucidated. Further investigation
needs to be done to precisely clarify the potential role of IL-1RAcP in
ischemic processes.
The nature, location, and signaling mechanisms of any additional IL-1
receptors in the brain are yet unknown, but could provide additional
targets for modification of IL-1 actions.
 |
FOOTNOTES |
Received June 21, 2001; revised Oct. 2, 2001; accepted Oct. 11, 2001.
*
O.T. and H.B. contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence should be addressed to Prof. Nancy Rothwell, School of
Biological Sciences, 1.124 Stopford Building, University of Manchester,
M13 9PT, UK. E-mail: Nancy.Rothwell{at}man.ac.uk.
O. Touzani's present address: Université de Caen-Unité
Mixte de Recherche Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 6551, Centre Cyceron, Boulevard H. Becquerel BP 5229, 14074 Caen, France.
G. Luheshi's present address: The Douglas Hospital Research Center,
6875 Boulevard Lassale, Verdun, Quebec H4R 1R3, Canada.
This work was supported by the Medical Research Council (United
Kingdom) and the European Union Training and Mobility in
Research program. We are grateful to Immunex Corporation
(Seattle, WA) for providing IL-1 receptor knock-out mice and to Dr.
Steve Poole (National Institute for Biological Standards and Controls,
Potters Bar, UK) for providing IL-1. We also thank Anthea Hughes
for her contribution to this work.
 |
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