Abstract: Objective To identify the neural cell-type as source of IL-17A during cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injuries in vitro. Methods Primary cultured mouse cortical neurons, microglia and astrocytes were subjected to 1~4 h oxygen-glucose deprivation/24h reoxygenation (OGD/R) simulating cell ischemia/reperfusion injury model in vitro, and then the double immunofluorescence staining with IL-17A and their specific markers of NeuN, Iba-1 and GFAP, RT-qPCR and Western blot were performed to determine the neural cell-type of IL-17A production. Results The primary cultured microglia and astrocytes (but not NeuN+ neurons) could express IL-17A and respectively co-localized with their specific markers Iba-1 and GFAP after OGD/R treatment. The mRNA expression levels of IL-17A increased with OGD duration and reached the peak at 4h OGD [(2.74±2.48)，P<0.001, n=5 per group] in astrocytes after 1~6 h OGD/24 h R treatment. In addition, 4 h OGD/R treatment could promote IL-17A protein expression in primary cultured astrocytes [(3.17±0.91)，P<0.05，n=5 per group]. Conclusions These results suggested that astrocytes might be the main source of IL-17A production during cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injuries.

Key words: IL-17A, OGD/R, Astrocytes, Microglia, Neurons