RiboTag RNA Sequencing Identifies Local Translation of HSP70 In Astrocyte Endfeet After Cerebral Ischemia

Brain ischemia causes disruption in cerebral blood flow and blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity which are normally maintained by the astrocyte endfeet. Emerging evidence points to dysregulation of the astrocyte translatome during ischemia, but its effects on the endfoot translatome are unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate the early effects of ischemia on the astrocyte endfoot translatome in a rodent model of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. To do so, we immunoprecipitated astrocyte-specific tagged ribosomes (RiboTag IP) from mechanically isolated brain microvessels. In mice subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion and contralateral controls, we sequenced ribosome-bound RNAs from perivascular astrocyte endfeet and identified 205 genes that were differentially expressed in the translatome after ischemia. Pathways associated with the differential expressions included proteostasis, inflammation, cell cycle, and metabolism. Transcription factors whose targets were enriched amongst upregulated translating genes included HSF1, the master regulator of the heat shock response. The most highly upregulated genes in the translatome were HSF1-dependent Hspa1a and Hspa1b, which encode the inducible HSP70. We found that HSP70 is upregulated in astrocyte endfeet after ischemia, coinciding with an increase in ubiquitination across the proteome. These findings suggest a robust proteostasis response to proteotoxic stress in the endfoot translatome after ischemia. Modulating proteostasis in endfeet may be a strategy to preserve endfeet function and BBB integrity after ischemic stroke.