Apelin-13 inhibits apoptosis and excessive autophagy in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury

Apelin-13 is a novel endogenous ligand for an angiotensin-like orphan G-protein coupled receptor,and it may be neuroprotective against cerebral ischemia injury.However,the precise mechanisms of the effects of apelin-13 remain to be elucidated.To investigate the effects of apelin-13 on apoptosis and autophagy in models of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury,a rat model was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion.Apelin-13(50μg/kg)was injected into the right ventricle as a treatment.In addition,an SH-SY5Y cell model was established by oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion,with cells first cultured in sugar-free medium with 95%N2 and 5%CO2 for 4 hours and then cultured in a normal environment with sugar-containing medium for 5 hours.This SH-SY5Y cell model was treated with 10-7 M apelin-13 for 5 hours.Results showed that apelin-13 protected against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.Apelin-13 treatment alleviated neuronal apoptosis by increasing the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax and significantly decreasing cleaved caspase-3 expression.In addition,apelin-13 significantly inhibited excessive autophagy by regulating the expression of LC3B,p62,and Beclin1.Furthermore,the expression of Bcl-2 and the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase(PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR)pathway was markedly increased.Both LY294002(20μM)and rapamycin(500 nM),which are inhibitors of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway,significantly attenuated the inhibition of autophagy and apoptosis caused by apelin-13.In conclusion,the findings of the present study suggest that Bcl-2 upregulation and mTOR signaling pathway activation lead to the inhibition of apoptosis and excessive autophagy.These effects are involved in apelin-13-induced neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury,both in vivo and in vitro.The study was approved by the Animal Ethical and Welfare Committee of Jining Medical University,China(approval No.2018-JS-001)in February 2018.