Netrin‐1 attenuates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury by limiting mitochondrial ROS and Ca ²⁺ levels via activation of AKT phosphorylation and mitochondrial m‐AAA protease AFG3L2

Cerebral ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury as the consequence of revascularization after ischemic stroke is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and neuron loss. In this study, we used a deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) model to determine whether interactions between Netrin‐1, AKT, and the mitochondrial AAA protease AFG3L2 could influence mitochondrial function in neurons after I/R. We found that Netrin‐1 protects primary cortical neurons from OGD/R‐induced cell death and regulates mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) and Ca 2+ levels. The accumulation of mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) subunits was monitored in cells by immunoblot analysis. Although the regulatory subunits MICU1 and MICU2 were relatively unaffected, the accumulation of the essential MCU regulator (EMRE) subunit was impaired. In OGD/R‐induced cells, the 7 kDa form of EMRE was significantly reduced. Netrin‐1 inhibited the accumulation of EMRE and mitochondrial Ca 2+ levels by upregulating AFG3L2 and AKT activation. Loss of AFG3L2 or inhibition of AKT increased levels of 7 kDa EMRE. Moreover, overexpression of AKT increased the expression of AFG3L2 in Netrin‐1‐knockdown neurons after OGD/R. Our results demonstrate that Netrin‐1 enhanced AFG3L2 protein expression via activation of AKT. We also observed that overexpression of Netrin‐1 significantly reduced infarction size in an I/R‐induced brain injury model in rats but not when AKT was inhibited. Our data suggest that AFG3L2 is a protein substrate of AKT and indicate that Netrin‐1 attenuates cerebral I/R injury by limiting mitochondrial ROS and Ca 2+ levels through activating AKT phosphorylation and AFG3L2.