Up-regulation of Sirt1/miR-149-5p signaling may play a role in resveratrol induced protection against ischemia via p53 in rat brain

Micro-RNA(miRNA) are well studied small noncoding RNA, which plays a diverse role in the regulation of vital elements in cell survival and apoptosis. However, the functional significance of miRNAs after the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke remains unclear. The present study is designed to investigate the regulatory role of miR-149-5p on Sirtuin-1/p53 axis during ischemic-reperfusion-induced injury. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was performed by nylon monofilament for 60 min. Resveratrol was administered via intraperitoneal (IP) route, 30 min before the MCAO. Our study demonstrated that the miR-149-5p levels were markedly decreased at 24 h after ischemic-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Further, we observed decreased p53 protein expression and increased miR-149-5p activity on sirtuin1 (Sirt1) activation with resveratrol after 24 h following MCAO. Moreover, immunohistochemistry studies found that resveratrol treatment significantly decreased the immunoreactivity of p53 and caspase-3 on activation of Sirt1/miR149-5p axis. In conclusion, our findings suggest that miR-149-5p could play a regulatory role in neuronal cell death via Sirt1/p53 axis, which offers a new target for novel therapeutic interventions during acute ischemic stroke.