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Stroke Immunology: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Prospects

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A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cellular Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 October 2024 | Viewed by 1688

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Emmanuel Pinteaux

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Guest Editor

FBMH, Division of Neuroscience, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Interests: cerebrovascular disease; stroke; neuroinflammation; neurorepair

Dr. Alba Grayston-Morales

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Guest Editor

Brain Inflammation Group, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Interests: stroke; neuroinflammation; neurorepair; preclinical stroke models

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Stroke is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Despite great advances in acute management due to improved recanalization strategies, greater symptom awareness and prompt intervention, the recanalization eligibility is still limited, and a large proportion of stroke patients remain disabled or die. Translational stroke research has focused on neuroprotection as a promising strategy alongside recanalization to limit tissue injury. However, out of more than 1000 putative neuroprotectants, none have reached the clinical setting and, with neurorehabilitation being the only available treatment beyond the acute phase, there is a flagrant need to enhance post-stroke recovery.

In recent years, stroke immunology has emerged as a promising field, placing emphasis on the inflammatory response as a key pathophysiological event contributing to tissue injury and repair. It is now known that stroke not only triggers a local neuroinflammatory response but also induces disturbances in systemic immune homeostasis, and common stroke risk factors are associated with inflammatory processes.

This Special Issue aims to provide mechanistic insights into the high complexity of local and systemic immune disturbances affecting the stroke pathogenesis and outcome and cover recent therapeutic advances targeting immune pathways after stroke. Authors are welcome to submit original research articles or topic reviews that expand our knowledge of stroke immunology.

Dr. Emmanuel Pinteaux
Dr. Alba Grayston-Morales
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

stroke
neuroimmunology
neuroinflammation
thromboinflammation
blood-brain barrier
glia
immunomodulation

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

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22 pages, 1296 KiB

Open AccessReview

Exposure to Environmental Toxins: Potential Implications for Stroke Risk via the Gut– and Lung–Brain Axis

by Alexandria Ruggles and Corinne Benakis

Cells 2024, 13(10), 803; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13100803 - 8 May 2024

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Abstract

Recent evidence indicates that exposure to environmental toxins, both short-term and long-term, can increase the risk of developing neurological disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases (i.e., Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias) and acute brain injury (i.e., stroke). For stroke, the latest systematic analysis revealed that exposure to ambient particulate matter is the second most frequent stroke risk after high blood pressure. However, preclinical and clinical stroke investigations on the deleterious consequences of environmental pollutants are scarce. This review examines recent evidence of how environmental toxins, absorbed along the digestive tract or inhaled through the lungs, affect the host cellular response. We particularly address the consequences of environmental toxins on the immune response and the microbiome at the gut and lung barrier sites. Additionally, this review highlights findings showing the potential contribution of environmental toxins to an increased risk of stroke. A better understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying exposure to environmental toxins has the potential to mitigate stroke risk and other neurological disorders. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Stroke Immunology: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Prospects)

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16 pages, 3155 KiB

Open AccessBrief Report

GPR55 Inactivation Diminishes Splenic Responses and Improves Neurological Outcomes in the Mouse Ischemia/Reperfusion Stroke Model

by Sachin Gajghate, Hongbo Li and Slava Rom

Cells 2024, 13(3), 280; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13030280 - 3 Feb 2024

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Abstract

Although strokes are frequent and severe, treatment options are scarce. Plasminogen activators, the only FDA-approved agents for clot treatment (tissue plasminogen activators (tPAs)), are used in a limited patient group. Moreover, there are few approaches for handling the brain’s inflammatory reactions to a stroke. The orphan G protein-coupled receptor 55 (GPR55)’s connection to inflammatory processes has been recently reported; however, its role in stroke remains to be discovered. Post-stroke neuroinflammation involves the central nervous system (CNS)’s resident microglia activation and the infiltration of leukocytes from circulation into the brain. Additionally, splenic responses have been shown to be detrimental to stroke recovery. While lymphocytes enter the brain in small numbers, they regularly emerge as a very influential leukocyte subset that causes secondary inflammatory cerebral damage. However, an understanding of how this limited lymphocyte presence profoundly impacts stroke outcomes remains largely unclear. In this study, a mouse model for transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) was used to mimic ischemia followed by a reperfusion (IS/R) stroke. GPR55 inactivation, with a potent GPR55-specific antagonist, ML-193, starting 6 h after tMCAO or the absence of the GPR55 in mice (GPR55 knock out (GPR55ko)) resulted in a reduced infarction volume, improved neurological outcomes, and decreased splenic responses. The inhibition of GPR55 with ML-193 diminished CD4⁺T-cell spleen egress and attenuated CD4⁺T-cell brain infiltration. Additionally, ML-193 treatment resulted in an augmented number of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the brain post-tMCAO. Our report offers documentation and the functional evaluation of GPR55 in the brain–spleen axis and lays the foundation for refining therapeutics for patients after ischemic attacks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Stroke Immunology: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Prospects)

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