Metformin Protects against Spinal Cord Injury and Cell Pyroptosis via AMPK/NLRP3 Inflammasome Pathway

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is an extreme neurological impairment with few effective drug treatments. Pyroptosis is a recently found and proven type of programmed cell death that is characterized by a reliance on inflammatory caspases and the release of a large number of proinflammatory chemicals. Pyro...

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Main Authors: Yajiang Yuan, Xiangyi Fan, Zhanpeng Guo, Zipeng Zhou, Weiran Gao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-01-01
Series:Analytical Cellular Pathology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/3634908
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author Yajiang Yuan
Xiangyi Fan
Zhanpeng Guo
Zipeng Zhou
Weiran Gao
author_facet Yajiang Yuan
Xiangyi Fan
Zhanpeng Guo
Zipeng Zhou
Weiran Gao
author_sort Yajiang Yuan
collection DOAJ
description Spinal cord injury (SCI) is an extreme neurological impairment with few effective drug treatments. Pyroptosis is a recently found and proven type of programmed cell death that is characterized by a reliance on inflammatory caspases and the release of a large number of proinflammatory chemicals. Pyroptosis differs from other cell death mechanisms such as apoptosis and necrosis in terms of morphological traits, incidence, and regulatory mechanism. Pyroptosis is widely involved in the occurrence and development of SCI. In-depth research on pyroptosis will help researchers better understand its involvement in the onset, progression, and prognosis of SCI, as well as provide new therapeutic prevention and treatment options. Herein, we investigated the role of AMPK-mediated activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the neuroprotection of MET-regulated pyroptosis. We found that MET treatment reduced NLRP3 inflammasome activation by activating phosphorylated AMPK and reduced proinflammatory cytokine (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) release. At the same time, MET improved motor function recovery in rats after SCI by reducing motor neuron loss in the anterior horn of the spinal cord. Taken together, our study confirmed that MET inhibits neuronal pyroptosis after SCI via the AMPK/NLRP3 signaling pathway, which is mostly dependent on the AMPK pathway increase, hence decreasing NLRP3 inflammasome activation.
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publishDate 2022-01-01
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series Analytical Cellular Pathology
spelling doaj-art-3e45a007d3344787b88eefed5deb9c7d2025-08-20T02:08:20ZengWileyAnalytical Cellular Pathology2210-71852022-01-01202210.1155/2022/3634908Metformin Protects against Spinal Cord Injury and Cell Pyroptosis via AMPK/NLRP3 Inflammasome PathwayYajiang Yuan0Xiangyi Fan1Zhanpeng Guo2Zipeng Zhou3Weiran Gao4Department of OrthopedicsDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck SurgeryDepartment of OrthopedicsDepartment of OrthopedicsDepartment of OncologySpinal cord injury (SCI) is an extreme neurological impairment with few effective drug treatments. Pyroptosis is a recently found and proven type of programmed cell death that is characterized by a reliance on inflammatory caspases and the release of a large number of proinflammatory chemicals. Pyroptosis differs from other cell death mechanisms such as apoptosis and necrosis in terms of morphological traits, incidence, and regulatory mechanism. Pyroptosis is widely involved in the occurrence and development of SCI. In-depth research on pyroptosis will help researchers better understand its involvement in the onset, progression, and prognosis of SCI, as well as provide new therapeutic prevention and treatment options. Herein, we investigated the role of AMPK-mediated activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the neuroprotection of MET-regulated pyroptosis. We found that MET treatment reduced NLRP3 inflammasome activation by activating phosphorylated AMPK and reduced proinflammatory cytokine (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) release. At the same time, MET improved motor function recovery in rats after SCI by reducing motor neuron loss in the anterior horn of the spinal cord. Taken together, our study confirmed that MET inhibits neuronal pyroptosis after SCI via the AMPK/NLRP3 signaling pathway, which is mostly dependent on the AMPK pathway increase, hence decreasing NLRP3 inflammasome activation.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/3634908
spellingShingle Yajiang Yuan
Xiangyi Fan
Zhanpeng Guo
Zipeng Zhou
Weiran Gao
Metformin Protects against Spinal Cord Injury and Cell Pyroptosis via AMPK/NLRP3 Inflammasome Pathway
Analytical Cellular Pathology
title Metformin Protects against Spinal Cord Injury and Cell Pyroptosis via AMPK/NLRP3 Inflammasome Pathway
title_full Metformin Protects against Spinal Cord Injury and Cell Pyroptosis via AMPK/NLRP3 Inflammasome Pathway
title_fullStr Metformin Protects against Spinal Cord Injury and Cell Pyroptosis via AMPK/NLRP3 Inflammasome Pathway
title_full_unstemmed Metformin Protects against Spinal Cord Injury and Cell Pyroptosis via AMPK/NLRP3 Inflammasome Pathway
title_short Metformin Protects against Spinal Cord Injury and Cell Pyroptosis via AMPK/NLRP3 Inflammasome Pathway
title_sort metformin protects against spinal cord injury and cell pyroptosis via ampk nlrp3 inflammasome pathway
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/3634908
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AT zhanpengguo metforminprotectsagainstspinalcordinjuryandcellpyroptosisviaampknlrp3inflammasomepathway
AT zipengzhou metforminprotectsagainstspinalcordinjuryandcellpyroptosisviaampknlrp3inflammasomepathway
AT weirangao metforminprotectsagainstspinalcordinjuryandcellpyroptosisviaampknlrp3inflammasomepathway