SLC15A3 is transcriptionally regulated by HIF1α and p65 to worsen neuroinflammation in experimental ischemic stroke.

Systemic inflammatory stimulus is a risk factor for the incidence of ischemic stroke and contributes to poorer clinical outcomes. Solute carrier 15A3 (SLC15A3) is a peptide/histidine transporter that is implicated in regulating inflammatory responses. However, whether SLC15A3 affects the progression of ischemic stroke associated with systemic inflammation is unclear. The transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) mice with LPS administration (LPS/tMCAO) were prepared as an in vivo model, and LPS-induced BV2 cells under oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) exposure were utilized as an in vitro model. We found that SLC15A3 was highly expressed in the ischemic penumbra of LPS/tMCAO mice, and its inhibition reduced infarct area, attenuated neurological deficit, recovered motor function, and mitigated apoptotic neurons. Knockdown of SLC15A3 suppressed the proinflammatory M1-type markers and promoted the levels of M2-associated genes. The in vitro results confirmed that SLC15A3 overexpression promoted microglia polarizing towards M1 subtypes, while SLC15A3 inhibition exerted an opposite effect. In addition, we demonstrated that the p65 signaling pathway and HIF1α were activated by LPS/OGD. Luciferase reporter assay showed that inhibiting p65 using its specific inhibitor BAY 11-7082 or silencing HIF1α using siRNAs reduced the transcriptional activity of SLC15A3 in LPS/OGD-induced BV2 cells. Results in NIH 3T3 cells also confirmed that p65 and HIF1α directly bound to the SLC15A3 promoter to activate SLC15A3 transcription. In conclusion, this work shows that SLC15A3, transcriptionally activated by p65 and HIF1α, contributes to poor outcomes in ischemic stroke associated with systemic inflammation by promoting microglial cells polarizing towards M1 types.