Extracellular vesicles derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells alleviate neurological deficit and endothelial cell dysfunction after subarachnoid hemorrhage via the KLF3-AS1/miR-83-5p/TCF7L2 axis

Background: New data are accumulating on the effects of mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) in cerebrovascular diseases. We explored the potential role of KLF3-AS1-containing bone marrow MSC-EVs (BMSC-EVs) in a rat model of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).

Methods: A rat model of SAH was established by endovascular perforation method, into which KLF3-AS1-containing EVs from BMSCs or miR-183-5p mimic were injected. Further, brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) were induced by oxyhemoglobin (OxyHb) to simulate in vitro setting, which were co-cultured with KLF3-AS1-containing EVs from BMSCs. Effects of KLF3-AS1 on neurological deficits in vivo and endothelial cell dysfunction in vitro were investigated. We also performed bioinformatics analysis to predict downstream factors miR-183-5p and TCF7L2, which were verified by RIP, RNA pull-down and luciferase activity assays.

Results: BMSC-EVs was demonstrated to alleviate neurological deficits in SAH rats and endothelial cell dysfunction in OxyHb-induced BMECs. In addition, BMSC-EVs were shown to deliver KLF3-AS1 to BMECs, where KLF3-AS1 bound to miR-183-5p and miR-183-5p targeted TCF7L2. In vivo results confirmed that BMSC-EVs regulated the KLF3-AS1/miR-183-5p/TCF7L2 signaling axis to attenuate neurological deficit and endothelial dysfunction after SAH.

Conclusion: Overall, KLF3-AS1 delivered by BMSC-EVs upregulate TCF7L2 expression by binding to miR-138-5p, thus attenuating neurological deficits and endothelial dysfunction after SAH.