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Several studies indicated that autophagy activation participates in brain ischemic tolerance (BIT) induced by cerebral ischemic preconditioning (CIP). However, the mechanism of autophagy activation during the process still remains unclear. The present study aimed to evaluate the role of p38 MAPK–peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) signaling cascade in autophagy during the CIP-induced BIT. The results shown that, initially, autophagy activation was observed after CIP in the model of global cerebral ischemia in rats, as was indicated by the upregulation of Beclin 1 expression, an increase in LC3-II/LC3-I ratio, the enhanced LC3 immunofluorescence, and a rise in the number of autophagosomes in the neurons of the hippocampal CA1 area. Besides, the inhibitor of autophagy 3-methyladenine obliterated the neuroprotection induced by CIP. Furthermore, the upregulation of p-p38 MAPK and PPARγ expressions was earlier than autophagy activation after CIP. In addition, pretreatment with SB203580 (the inhibitor of p38 MAPK) reversed CIP-induced PPARγ upregulation, autophagy activation, and neuroprotection. Pretreatment with GW9662 (the inhibitor of PPARγ) reversed autophagy activation and neuroprotection, while it had no effect on p-p38 MAPK upregulation induced by CIP. These data suggested that the p38 MAPK–PPARγ signaling pathway participates in autophagy activation during the induction of BIT by CIP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glial glutamate transporter 1 (GLT‐1) plays a vital role in the induction of brain ischemic tolerance (BIT) by ischemic preconditioning (IPC). However, the mechanism still needs to be further explained. The aim of this study was to investigate whether peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) participates in regulating GLT‐1 during the acquisition of BIT induced by IPC. Initially, cerebral IPC induced BIT and enhanced PPARγ and GLT‐1 expression in the CA1 hippocampus in rats. The ratio of nuclear/cytoplasmic PPARγ was also increased. At the same time, the up‐regulation of PPARγ expression in astrocytes in the CA1 hippocampus was revealed by double immunofluorescence for PPARγ and glial fibrillary acidic protein. Then, the mechanism by which PPARγ regulates GLT‐1 was studied in rat cortical astrocyte‐neuron cocultures. We found that IPC [45 min of oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD)] protected neuronal survival after lethal OGD (4 h of OGD), which usually leads to neuronal death. The activation of PPARγ occurred earlier than the up‐regulation of GLT‐1 in astrocytes after IPC, as determined by western blot and immunofluorescence. Moreover, the preadministration of the PPARγ antagonist T0070907 or PPARγ siRNA significantly attenuated GLT‐1 up‐regulation and the neuroprotective effects induced by IPC in vitro. Finally, the effect of the PPARγ antagonist on GLT‐1 expression and BIT was verified in vivo. We observed that the preadministration of T0070907 by intracerebroventricular injection dose‐dependently attenuated the up‐regulation of GLT‐1 and BIT induced by cerebral IPC in rats. In conclusion, PPARγ participates in regulating GLT‐1 during the acquisition of BIT induced by IPC. Cover Image for this issue: doi: 10.1111/jnc.14532. Open Science: This manuscript was awarded with the Open Materials Badge For more information see: https://cos.io/our-services/open-science-badges/ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]