Society for Neuroscience, Journal of Neuroscience, 43(37), p. 10498-10515, 2017
DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1139-17.2017
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Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a proinflammatory cascade initiator in poststroke inflammation. In this study, miR-1906, a novel regulator of TLR4, was identified viain silicoanalysis and microRNA profiling in male adult mice and its expression was then quantitated in the ischemic hemisphere. We found miR-1906 to be significantly brain enriched in the ischemic hemisphere and even more drastically enriched in the peri-infarct regions. Furthermore,in vitroexperiments demonstrated that, during oxygen–glucose deprivation, miR-1906 expression was increased in glial cells but decreased in neurons. Surprisingly, despite the augmentation of intracellular abundance, miR-1906 expression in extracellular vesicles was decreased in astrocyte cell culture supernatants, suggesting reduced sources of miR-1906 from glia to neurons. When exogenous miR-1906 was administered, decreased TLR4 protein expression was observed bothin vitroandin vivo. Using Cy3 labeling, exogenous miR-1906 uptake by astrocytes, microglia, and neurons was visualized directlyin vivo. Reduced infarct volumes and improved functional outcomes were observed in middle cerebral artery occlusion mice receiving miR-1906. However, the protective effects of miR-1906 disappeared with the genetic knock-out of TLR4, suggesting that TLR4 is a major target of miR-1906 through which the microRNA exerts its therapeutic effects.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThe current study identified miR-1906 as a novel specific regulator of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and depicted its distinct expression patterns in different cerebral regions and cell types during ischemic attack. Therefore, the therapeutic supplementation of miR-1906 can be beneficial in the modulation of poststroke inflammation. Using Cy3 labeling, exogenous miR-1906 expression was visualized and shown to enter astrocytes, microglia, and neurons successfullyin vivo. Supplemental therapeutic miR-1906 resulted in reduced TLR4 expression and improved outcomes after middle cerebral artery occlusion in a mouse model, but its neuroprotective function was TLR4 dependent, suggesting that TLR4 is a major target of miR-1906.