Activation of Swell1 in microglia suppresses neuroinflammation and reduces brain damage in ischemic stroke

Cl− movement and Cl−-sensitive signal pathways contributes to the survival and switch of inflammatory phenotype of microglia and are believed to play a key role in the inflammatory brain injury after ischemic stroke. Here, we demonstrated an important role of Cl− transmembrane transporter Swell1, in the survival and M2-like polarization of microglia in ischemic stroke. Knockdown or overexpression of Swell1 in cultured microglia inhibited or increased hypotonic-activated Cl− currents, respectively, and these changes were completely blocked by the volume-regulated anion channels (VRACs) inhibitor DCPIB. Swell1 conditional knock-in mice promoted microglia survival in ischemic brain region and resulted in significant reductions in neural cell death, infarction volume and neurological deficits following transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO). Using gene manipulating technique and pharmacological inhibitors, we further revealed that Swell1 opening led to SGK1 (a Cl−-sensitive kinase)-mediated activation of FOXO3a/CREB as well as WNK1 (another Cl−-sensitive kinase)-mediated SPAK/OSR1-CCCs activation, which promoted microglia survival and M2-like polarization, thereby attenuating neuroinflammation and ischemic brain injury. Taken together, our results demonstrated that Swell1 is an essential component of microglia VRACs and its activation protects against ischemic brain injury through promoting microglia survival and M2-like polarization.