Exosomal miR-133a-3p Derived from BMSCs Alleviates Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury via Targeting DAPK2

BACKGROUND: Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (CI/R) injury is a subtype of complication after treatment of ischemic stroke. It has been reported that exosomes derived from BMSCs could play an important role in CI/R injury. However, whether BMSCs-derived exosomes could regulate CI/R injury via carrying miRNAs remains to be further explored. METHODS: RNA sequencing was performed to identify the differentially expressed miRNAs. To mimic CI/R in vitro, SH-SY5Y cells were exposed to oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R). The viability of SH-SY5Y cells was tested by CCK8 assay, and TUNEL staining was performed to detect the cell apoptosis. RESULTS: MiR-133a-3p was identified to be reduced in exosomes derived from the plasma of patients with IS. Upregulation of miR-133a-3p significantly reversed OGD/R-induced SH-SY5Y cell growth inhibition. Consistently, BMSCs-derived exosomal miR-133a-3p could restore OGD/R-decreased SH-SY5Y cell proliferation via inhibiting apoptosis. Meanwhile, DAPK2 was a direct target of miR-133a-3p. In addition, OGD/R notably upregulated the level of DAPK2 and weakened the expressions of p-Akt and p-mTOR in SH-SY5Y cells, whereas exosomal miR-133a-3p derived from BMSCs notably reversed these phenomena. Exosomal miR-133a-3p derived from BMSCs could reverse OGD/R-induced cell apoptosis via inhibiting autophagy. Furthermore, exosomal miR-133a-3p derived from BMSCs markedly alleviated the symptom of CI/R injury in vivo. CONCLUSION: Exosomal miR-133a-3p derived from BMSCs alleviates CI/R injury via targeting DAPK2/Akt signaling. Thus, our study might shed new light on discovering new strategies against CI/R injury.