Reactive astrogliosis induced by TNF-α is associated with upregulated AEG-1 together with activated NF-κB pathway in vitro

Astrocyte-elevated gene-1 (AEG-1/MTDH/LYRIC) has garnered signficant attention in cancer research, yet, its role in inflammation-associated astrogliosis remains underexplored. This study aims to elucidate the effects of AEG-1 on reactive astrogliosis, including proliferation, migration, and glutamate uptake in primary astrocytes derived from rats. We first confirmed the effect of AEG-1 on these parameters. Subsequently, we investigated whether AEG-1 plays a role in the process of pro-inflammation factors such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) induced astrogliosis. Our findings revealed that AEG-1-lentivirus infection led to hypertrophic cell bodies and enhanced expression of astrogliosis markers, including glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin. Additionally, AEG-1 was found to upregulate the mRNA and protein expression levels of EAAT2, a major glutamate transporter in the brain predominantly expressed by astrocytes and responsible for 90% of glutamate clearance. Furthermore, TNF-α was shown to promote astrogliosis, as well as astrocyte proliferation and migration, by upregulating AEG-1 expression through the NF-κB pathway. Collectively, these results suggest a potential role for AEG-1 in inflammation-related astrogliosis.