Prevention of the Severity of Post-ischemic Inflammation and Brain Damage by Simultaneous Knockdown of Toll-like Receptors 2 and 4

•TLR2 and TLR4 expression elevated after focal cerebral ischemia.•MyD88-dependent TLR downstream signaling upregulates until five days’ reperfusion.•TLR2 and/or TLR4 inhibition reduces the infarct volume and the brain swelling.•Suppression of TLR2 and TLR4 prevents the induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 belong to a family of highly conserved pattern recognition receptors and are well-known upstream sensors of signaling pathways of innate immunity. TLR2 and TLR4 upregulation is thought to be associated with poor outcome in stroke patients. We currently show that transient focal ischemia in adult rats induces TLR2 and TLR4 expression within hours and shRNA-mediated knockdown of TLR2 and TLR4 alone and in combination decreases the infarct size and swelling. We further show that TLR2 and TLR4 knockdown also prevented the induction of their downstream signaling molecules MyD88, IRAK1, and NFκB p65 as well as the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα. This study thus shows that attenuation of the severity of TLR2- and TLR4-mediated post-stroke inflammation ameliorates ischemic brain damage.