The action of thrombin in intracerebral hemorrhage induced brain damage is mediated via PKCα/PKCδ signaling

The present study investigates the role of protein kinase C alpha/delta (PKC alpha/PKC delta) in brain injury induced by intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) by utilizing a rat model that received intracerebral injections of autologous blood and thrombin (TM). The activation and expression of PKC and PKC delta were analyzed by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. A PKC inhibitor, dihydrochloride (H7), was administrated intraperitoneally after injury to evaluate the effect of inhibition of PKC on ICH and TM induced brain damage. Our data indicate that both ICH and TM increased the expression of PKC alpha/PKC delta in the brain tissue, and PKC alpha expression peaked at 6 h, while PKC delta expression reached its maximum value at 72 h post-injury. Administration of H7 significantly reduced the inflammatory cells infiltrate, permeability of brain-blood barrier (BBB), brain edema, and neuronal death. We conclude that both PKC alpha and PKC delta play important roles in ICH and TM-induced brain injury, and dihydrochloride (H7) can attenuate brain damage after ICH. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.