Mef2c Exacerbates Neuron Necroptosis via Modulating Alternative Splicing of Cflar in Ischemic Stroke With Hyperlipidemia.

Aim: Hyperlipidemia is a common comorbidity of stroke patients, elucidating the mechanism that underlies the exacerbated ischemic brain injury after stroke with hyperlipidemia is emerging as a significant clinical problem due to the growing proportion of hyperlipidemic stroke patients.

Methods: Mice were fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks to induce hyperlipidemia. Transient middle cerebral artery occlusion was induced as a mouse model of ischemic stroke. Emx1 mice were crossed with Mef2c mice to specifically deplete Mef2c in neurons.

Results: We reported that hyperlipidemia significantly aggravated neuronal necroptosis and exacerbated long-term neurological deficits following ischemic stroke in mice. Mechanistically, Cflar, an upstream necroptotic regulator, was alternatively spliced into pro-necroptotic isoform (Cflar) in ischemic neurons of hyperlipidemic mice. Neuronal Mef2c was a transcription factor modulating Cflar splicing and upregulated by hyperlipidemia following stroke. Neuronal specific Mef2c depletion reduced cerebral level of Cflar and cFLIP (translated by Cflar), while mitigated neuron necroptosis and neurological deficits following stroke in hyperlipidemic mice.

Conclusions: Our study highlights the pathogenic role of Cflar splicing mediated by neuronal Mef2c, which aggravates neuron necroptosis following stroke with comorbid hyperlipidemia and proposes Cflar splicing as a potential therapeutic target for hyperlipidemic stroke patients.