Wnt-3a alleviates neuroinflammation after ischemic stroke by modulating the responses of microglia/macrophages and astrocytes

Abstract Neuroinflammation crucially influences functional recovery after ischemic stroke. Wnt-3a, a novel Wnt protein that specifically promotes Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, has been shown to regulate apoptosis and cell proliferation, but how it affects ischemic stroke-induced toxic brain inflammation remains unknown. Using a transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) mouse model in this study, we found that intranasal Wnt-3a-treated tMCAO mice had apparently reduced infarct volume and decreased brain water content after being allowed to recover for 72 h, as well as better neurologic outcomes on days 3, 7, and 14. Mice received Wnt-3a had significantly fewer tMCAO-induced peri-infarct TUNEL-positive cells compared with those received vehicle. Further, Wnt-3a-delivered tMCAO mice had notably fewer peri-infarct CD68-positive cells and lower ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule (Iba)-1 protein level. Wnt-3a significantly downregulated the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and upregulated the expression of arginase 1 (Arg1) and CD206. Finally, Wnt-3a obviously decreased the number of tMCAO-induced peri-infarct glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)/C3-positive cells, increased the number of GFAP/S100A10-positive cells, attenuated the protein levels of GFAP and interleukin 15 (IL15), and elevated IL33 protein level. Our findings suggest that intranasal Wnt-3a could ameliorate toxic responses of microglia/macrophages and astrocytes in ischemic brain injury, supporting that Wnt-3a might be potentially appropriate for ischemic stroke treatment functioning as an immunomodulatory agent.