Glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity is involved in many acute and chronic brain diseases. Homer proteins, a new member of the postsynaptic scaffolding proteins, regulate glutamatergic signaling and intracellular calcium mobilization in the central nervous system. Here we investigated the effects of down-regulating Homer1b/c, a constitutively expressed long form of Homer proteins, on glutamate excitotoxicity-induced neuronal injury. In our in vitro excitotoxic models, we demonstrated that glutamate insults led to a dose-dependent neuronal injury, which was mediated by the intracellular calcium-dependent reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. We found that down-regulation of Homer1b/c with specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) improved neuronal survival, inhibited intracellular ROS production, and reduced apoptotic cell death after neurotoxicity. Homer1b/c knockdown decreased the intracellular calcium overload through inhibition of the group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR)/inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R)-mediated Ca2+ release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in injured neurons. In addition, Homer1b/c siRNA transfection attenuated the activation of eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α), RNA-dependent protein kinase-like ER kinase (PERK) and caspase-12, and inhibited the up-regulation of glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) after glutamate treatment. Homer1b/c knockdown also preserved the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), reduced cytochrome c (Cyt. c) release, and partly blocked the increase of capase-9 activity and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Taken together, these results suggest that down-regulation of Homer1b/c protects cortical neurons against glutamate-induced excitatory damage, and this neuroprotection may be dependent at least in part on the inhibition of calcium-dependent ROS production and the preservation of the ER and mitochondrial function.
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