KAP1 phosphorylation promotes the survival of neural stem cells after ischemia/reperfusion by maintaining the stability of PCNA

AIMS: To explore the function of phosphorylation of KAP1 (p-KAP1) at the serine-824 site (S824) in the proliferation and apoptosis of endogenous neural stem cells (NSCs) after cerebral ischemic/reperfusion (I/R). METHODS: The apoptosis and proliferation of C17.2 cells transfected with the p-KAP1-expression plasmids and the expression of proliferation cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and p-KAP1 were detected by immunofluorescence and Western blotting after the Oxygen Glucose deprivation/reperfusion model (OGD/R). The interaction of p-KAP1 and CUL4A with PCNA was analyzed by immunoprecipitation. In the rats MCAO model, we performed the adeno-associated virus (AAV) 2/9 gene delivery of p-KAP1 mutants to verify the proliferation of endogenous NSCs and the colocalization of PCNA and CUL4A by immunofluorescence. RESULTS: The level of p-KAP1 was significantly down-regulated in the stroke model in vivo and in vitro. Simulated p-KAP1(S824) significantly increased the proliferation of C17.2 cells and the expression of PCNA after OGD/R. Simulated p-KAP1(S824) enhanced the binding of p-KAP1 and PCNA and decreased the interaction between PCNA and CUL4A in C17.2 cells subjected to OGD/R. The AAV2/9-mediated p-KAP1(S824) increased endogenous NSCs proliferation, PCNA expression, p-KAP1 binding to PCNA, and improved neurological function in the rat MCAO model. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirmed that simulated p-KAP1(S824) improved the survival and proliferation of endogenous NSCs. The underlying mechanism is that highly expressed p-KAP1(S824) promotes binding to PCNA, and inhibits the binding of CUL4A to PCNA. This reduced CUL4A-mediated ubiquitination degradation to increase the stability of PCNA and promote the survival and proliferation of NSCs. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13287-022-02962-5.