The scavenger receptor CD36 contributes to the neurotoxicity of bone marrow-derived monocytes through peroxynitrite production.

CD36, a class B scavenger receptor present in microglia, endothelium and leukocytes, plays a key role in ischemic brain injury by promoting the expression of inflammatory genes and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, it is not known whether ischemic brain damage is mediated by CD36 activation in resident brain cells, i.e., microglia, or by blood-borne cells that infiltrate the brain. To address this question, we studied oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) in hippocampal slice cultures, a model of ischemic injury that does not involve cells extrinsic to the brain. We found that CD36 gene knockout does not afford protection of hippocampal slices to OGD-induced cytotoxicity. In contrast, immunoactivated bone marrow-derived monocytes-macrophages (BMM) from wild type (WT) mice trigger hippocampal damage when incubated with brain slices via a mechanism that is prevented in CD36-/- BMM. The neurotoxic activity of CD36+/+ BMM was attributed to reactive oxygen species (ROS) since it was concomitant with increased ROS production and could be prevented by treatment with a selective ROS scavenger, MnTBAP, or a peroxynitrite decomposition catalyst, FeTPPS. Importantly, ROS production and accumulation 3-nitrotyrosine in hippocampal proteins (a hallmark of peroxynitrite production) was significantly dampened in immunoactivated CD36-/- BMM, whereas production of NO-derived metabolites (nitrite and nitrate) was unaltered. We conclude that CD36 signaling may not contribute to injury induced by OGD in the brain itself but is involved in the neurotoxicity mediated by activated BMM. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that CD36 in infiltrating inflammatory cells drives peroxynitrite-mediated ischemic brain damage. Accordingly, targeting CD36 in the vascular compartment may protect against neurotoxicity in the ischemic brain.