mw-151 and Cognition-Disorders

Evidence from clinical studies and preclinical animal models suggests that proinflammatory cytokine overproduction is a potential driving force for pathology progression in traumatic brain injury (TBI). This raises the possibility that selective targeting of the overactive cytokine response, a component of the neuroinflammation that contributes to neuronal dysfunction, may be a useful therapeutic approach. MW151 is a CNS-penetrant, small molecule experimental therapeutic that selectively restores injury- or disease-induced overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines towards homeostasis. We previously reported that MW151 administered post-injury (p.i.) is efficacious in a closed head injury (CHI) model of diffuse TBI in mice. Here we test dose dependence of MW151 to suppress the target mechanism (proinflammatory cytokine up-regulation), and explore the therapeutic window for MW151 efficacy.. We examined suppression of the acute cytokine surge when MW151 was administered at different times post-injury and the dose-dependence of cytokine suppression. We also tested a more prolonged treatment with MW151 over the first 7 days post-injury and measured the effects on cognitive impairment and glial activation.. MW151 administered up to 6 h post-injury suppressed the acute cytokine surge, in a dose-dependent manner. Administration of MW151 over the first 7 days post-injury rescues the CHI-induced cognitive impairment and reduces glial activation in the focus area of the CHI.. Our results identify a clinically relevant time window post-CHI during which MW151 effectively restores cytokine production back towards normal, with a resultant attenuation of downstream cognitive impairment.

Topics: Analysis of Variance; Animals; Brain; Brain Injuries; Calcium-Binding Proteins; Cognition Disorders; Cytokines; Disease Models, Animal; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; Male; Maze Learning; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Microfilament Proteins; Pyridazines; Pyrimidines; Time Factors

Epidemiological studies have associated increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related clinical symptoms with a medical history of head injury. Currently, little is known about pathophysiology mechanisms linked to this association. Persistent neuroinflammation is one outcome observed in patients after a single head injury. Neuroinflammation is also present early in relevant brain regions during AD pathology progression. In addition, previous mechanistic studies in animal models link neuroinflammation as a contributor to neuropathology and cognitive impairment in traumatic brain injury (TBI) or AD-related models. Therefore, we explored the potential interplay of neuroinflammatory responses in TBI and AD by analysis of the temporal neuroinflammatory changes after TBI in an AD model, the APP/PS1 knock-in (KI) mouse. Discrete temporal aspects of astrocyte, cytokine, and chemokine responses in the injured KI mice were delayed compared with the injured wild-type mice, with a peak neuroinflammatory response in the injured KI mice occurring at 7 d after injury. The neuroinflammatory responses were more persistent in the injured KI mice, leading to a chronic neuroinflammation. At late time points after injury, KI mice exhibited a significant impairment in radial arm water maze performance compared with sham KI mice or injured wild-type mice. Intervention with a small-molecule experimental therapeutic (MW151) that selectively attenuates proinflammatory cytokine production yielded improved cognitive behavior outcomes, consistent with a link between neuroinflammatory responses and altered risk for AD-associated pathology changes with head injury.

Topics: Aging; Alzheimer Disease; Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; Animals; Astrocytes; Brain Injuries; Chemokines; Cognition Disorders; Cytokines; Disease Models, Animal; Disease Progression; Female; Gene Knock-In Techniques; Head Injuries, Closed; Inflammation Mediators; Male; Maze Learning; Mice; Microglia; Pyridazines; Pyrimidines

Cognitive impairment precipitated by irradiation of normal brain tissue is commonly associated with radiation therapy for treatment of brain cancer, and typically manifests more than 6 months after radiation exposure. The risks of cognitive impairment are of particular concern for an increasing number of long-term cancer survivors. There is presently no effective means of preventing or mitigating this debilitating condition. Neuroinflammation mediated by activated microglial cytokines has been implicated in the pathogenesis of radiation-induced cognitive impairment in animal models, including the disruption of neurogenesis and activity-induced gene expression in the hippocampus. These pathologies evolve rapidly and are associated with relatively subtle cognitive impairment at 2 months postirradiation. However, recent reports suggest that more profound cognitive impairment develops at later post-irradiation time points, perhaps reflecting a gradual loss of responsiveness within the hippocampus by the disruption of neurogenesis. We hypothesized that inhibiting neuroinflammation using MW01-2-151SRM (MW-151), a selective inhibitor of proinflammatory cytokine production, might mitigate these deleterious radiation effects by preserving/restoring hippocampal neurogenesis. MW-151 therapy was initiated 24 h after 10 Gy whole-brain irradiation (WBI) administered as a single fraction and maintained for 28 days thereafter. Proinflammatory activated microglia in the dentate gyrus were assayed at 2 and 9 months post-WBI. Cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus were assayed at 2 months post-WBI, whereas novel object recognition and long-term potentiation were assayed at 6 and 9 months post-WBI, respectively. MW-151 mitigated radiation-induced neuroinflammation at both early and late time points post-WBI, selectively mitigated the deleterious effects of irradiation on hippocampal neurogenesis, and potently mitigated radiation-induced deficits of novel object recognition consolidation and of long-term potentiation induction and maintenance. Our results suggest that transient administration of MW-151 is sufficient to partially preserve/restore neurogenesis within the subgranular zone and to maintain the functional integrity of the dentate gyrus long after MW-151 therapy withdrawal.

Topics: Animals; Cognition Disorders; Cytokines; Hippocampus; Inflammation; Long-Term Potentiation; Male; Microglia; Neurogenesis; Pyridazines; Pyrimidines; Radiation Injuries, Experimental; Rats; Rats, Inbred F344; Recognition, Psychology; Whole-Body Irradiation