Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) is a multisubunit transcription factor that when activated induces the expression of genes encoding acute-phase proteins, cell adhesion molecules, cell surface receptors, and cytokines. NF-kB is composed of a variety of protein subunits of which p50-and p65-kDa (RelA) are the most widely studied. Under resting conditions, these subunits reside in the cytoplasm as an inactive complex bound by inhibitor proteins, IkBα and IkBβ. On activation, IkB is phosphorylated by IkB kinase and ubiquitinated and degraded by the proteasome; simultaneously, the active heterodimer translocates to the nucleus where it can initiate gene transcription. In the periphery, NF-kB is involved in inflammation through stimulation of the production of inflammatory mediators. The role of NF-kB in the brain is unclear. In vitro, NF-kB activation can be either protective or deleterious. The role of NF-kB in ischemic neuronal cell death in vivo was investigated. Adult male rats were subjected to 2 hours of focal ischemia induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). At 2, 6, and 12 hours after reperfusion, the expression and transactivation of NF-kB in ischemic versus nonischemic cortex and striatum were determined by immunocytochemistry and by electrophoretic mobility gel-shift analysis. At all time points studied, p50 and p65 immunoreactivity was found exclusively in the nuclei of cortical and striatal neurons in the ischemic hemisphere. The contralateral nonischemic hemisphere showed no evidence of nuclear NF-kB immunoreactivity. Double immunofluorescence confirmed expression of p50 in nuclei of neurons. Increased NF-kB DNA-binding activity in nuclear extracts prepared from the ischemic hemisphere was further substantiated by electrophoretic mobility gel-shift analysis. Because the activation of NF-kB by many stimuli can be blocked by antioxidants in vitro, the effect of the antioxidant, LY341122, previously shown to be neuroprotective, on NF-kB activation in the MCAO model was evaluated. No significant activation of NF-kB was found by electrophoretic mobility gel-shift analysis in animals treated with LY341122. These results demonstrate that transient focal cerebral ischemia results in activation of NF-kB in neurons and supports previous observations that neuroprotective antioxidants may inhibit neuronal death by preventing the activation of NF-kB.

Stephenson, D., Yin, T., Smalstig, E. B., Hsu, M. A., Panetta, J., Little, S., & Clemens, J. (2000). Transcription Factor Nuclear Factor-Kappa B is Activated in Neurons after Focal Cerebral Ischemia. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 20(3), 592–603.