This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 40/3/973    most recent STROKEAHA.108.530535v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wang, L. Articles by Song, W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wang, L. Articles by Song, W. Related Collections Animal models of human disease Acute Cerebral Infarction Brain Circulation and Metabolism Genetics of Stroke

(Stroke. 2009;40:973.)
© 2009 American Heart Association, Inc.

Research Letters

Upregulation of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Gene Expression in Stroke

Lijuan Wang, MD, PhD; Odysseus Zis, BSc; Guixian Ma, MD, MSc; Zhixin Shan, MD; Xiong Zhang, MD; Shuo Wang, MD; Chengbo Dai, MD; Jiehao Zhao, MD; Qiuxiong Lin, MD; Shuguang Lin, MD Weihong Song, MD, PhD

From the Department of Neurology (L.W., G.M., X.Z., S.W., C.D., J.Z.), Research Centre of Medicinal Sciences (Z.S., Q.L.), Guangdong Provincial Cardiovascular Institute (S.L.), Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; Townsend Family Laboratories (O.Z., W.S.), Department of Psychiatry, Brain Research Center, Graduate Program in Neuroscience (O.Z., W.S.), The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Correspondence to Weihong Song, MD, PhD, Townsend Family Laboratories, Department of Psychiatry, The University of British Columbia, 2255 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada. E-mail weihong{at}exchange.ubc.ca; or Shuquang Lin, MD, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangzhou, China. E-mail gdpph@21cn.com

Background and Purpose— MIF has been implicated to function in many inflammatory processes. This study examined whether MIF expression was affected in stroke and its underlying molecular mechanism.

Methods— ELISA and qRT-PCR were used to detect MIF protein and mRNA in PBMCs from stroke patients, the ischemic rat brains, and controls. A MIF promoter assay under hypoxia was performed.

Results— MIF protein and mRNA were significantly increased in stroke patients. Increasing levels of MIF were correlated to the severity of stroke and peaked 24 hours after stroke. MIF was significantly upregulated in focal ischemic rat brains. The activity of the human MIF promoter was significantly increased under hypoxia compared to normoxia.

Conclusions— MIF gene expression is upregulated after stroke, and hypoxia signaling plays an important role in upregulation of MIF expression under stroke.

Key Words: cell cultures • gene regulation • neurochemistry