Objective: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a common injury that seriously threatens human health. NF-κB may be involved in the secondary injury of SCI that is mediated by inflammation and aggravates damage. Our study was aimed to investigate the role of NF-κB signaling in DUSP19-mediated cleaved Caspase-3 expression and the release of inflammatory factors in vivo and in vitro.Materials and Methods: DUSP19 mRNA expression and the content of IL-6 and IL-8 in patients with traumatic SCI (TSCI) were measured by real-time PCR and ELISA, respectively. The levels of p-NF-κBp65, NF-κBp65 and cleaved Caspase-3 expression and the concentrations of IL-6 and IL-8 were measured by western blotting and ELISA, respectively.Results: Patients with TSCI showed lower DUSP19 expression and higher concentration of IL-6 and IL-8 compared with healthy controls. DUSP19 overexpression inhibited p-NF-κBp65 level, cleaved Caspase-3 expression, and production of IL-8 and IL-6 in the mice induced by TSCI. DUSP19 silencing increased p-NF-κBp65 level, cleaved Caspase-3 expression, and concentration of IL-6 and IL-8 in mouse primary microglia cells. DUSP19 overexpression had an inverse effect. Importantly, DUSP19 silencing and overexpression mediated p-NF-κBp65 level, cleaved Caspase-3 expression, and concentration of IL-6 and IL-8 in mouse primary microglia cells were reversed by NF-κB inhibitor pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) and NF-κB activator 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), respectively.Conclusion: These results suggested that DUSP19-mediated SCI-induced apoptosis and inflammation via NF-κB signaling and might therefore serve as a potential therapeutic target for SCI.
Keywords: Caspase-3; DUSP19; IL-6; IL-8; NF-κB; spinal cord injury.