期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2017
卷号：114
期号：31
页码：E6420-E6426
DOI：10.1073/pnas.1707661114
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of long-term neurological disability, yet the mechanisms underlying the chronic cognitive deficits associated with TBI remain unknown. Consequently, there are no effective treatments for patients suffering from the long-lasting symptoms of TBI. Here, we show that TBI persistently activates the integrated stress response (ISR), a universal intracellular signaling pathway that responds to a variety of cellular conditions and regulates protein translation via phosphorylation of the translation initiation factor eIF2α. Treatment with ISRIB, a potent drug-like small-molecule inhibitor of the ISR, reversed the hippocampal-dependent cognitive deficits induced by TBI in two different injury mouse models—focal contusion and diffuse concussive injury. Surprisingly, ISRIB corrected TBI-induced memory deficits when administered weeks after the initial injury and maintained cognitive improvement after treatment was terminated. At the physiological level, TBI suppressed long-term potentiation in the hippocampus, which was fully restored with ISRIB treatment. Our results indicate that ISR inhibition at time points late after injury can reverse memory deficits associated with TBI. As such, pharmacological inhibition of the ISR emerges as a promising avenue to combat head trauma-induced chronic cognitive deficits.
