Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have found that stroke causes multiple changes in the activity of genes in small blood vessels in the brain, and these changes could potentially be targets for future drugs to treat stroke effects. The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The vast majority of strokes are ischemic, meaning they are associated with blockage of cerebral vessels by a thrombus. This triggers inflammatory processes that can lead to further damage, including to small blood vessels. This is thought to be an additional contributor to brain damage after a stroke. However, accurately capturing these microvascular changes was technically challenging.
Using the new methods, the scientists documented post-stroke changes in gene activity in brain microvessels in mice and identified changes that were also observed in studies of stroke patients. In total, the team found 541 genes whose activity changed after stroke in both mouse brain microvessels and human microvessels.
Many of the genes have been associated with encephalitis, vascular disease, and types of vascular dysfunction that can lead to leaky microvessels in the brain. This leakage refers to a weakening of the blood-brain barrier, the cell membrane of the microvessels in the brain that protects the brain by preventing most components of circulating blood from entering the brain.
Some molecules identified by scientists are currently being used as targets for the treatment of other pathological conditions. The scientists’ discovery will help reuse existing drugs for stroke treatment and help develop new ones.