Enhanced Akt/GSK-3β/CREB signaling mediates the anti-inflammatory actions of mGluR5 positive allosteric modulators in microglia and following traumatic brain injury in male mice.

ABSTRACT: We have previously shown that treatment with a mGluR5 positive allosteric modulator (PAM) is neuroprotective after experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI), limiting post-traumatic neuroinflammation by reducing pro-inflammatory microglial activation and promoting anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective responses. However, the specific molecular mechanisms governing this anti-inflammatory shift in microglia remain unknown. Here we show that the mGluR5 PAM, VU0360172 (VuPAM), regulates microglial inflammatory responses through activation of Akt, resulting in the inhibition of GSK-3β. GSK-3β regulates the phosphorylation of CREB, thereby controlling the expression of inflammation-related genes and microglial plasticity. The anti-inflammatory action of VuPAM in microglia is reversed by inhibiti

SUBMITTER: Bhat SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7386074 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature