LAUSR

Graphical abstract Figure. No caption available. &NA; Sulfasalazine (SF) promotes remyelination and improves the outcome of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. However, the underlining mechanism remains elusive. Here, we examined whether SF blocks microglia switching to a pro‐inflammatory M1‐like phenotype through a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) effects in cuprizone‐induced demyelination. The microglia reprogramming effects of SF in the mice model of cuprizone‐induced demyelination was measured by histological, immunohistochemical and molecular biological methods. We also measured the effects of the condition media from SF‐treated microglia on the differentiation of OLN‐93 cells. Insights of the mechanism of ceRNAs of miR‐136‐5p and long non‐coding RNA (lncRNA) HOTAIR were gained from bioinformatic analysis, luciferase assays and RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation. Microglia switched to a pro‐inflammatory M1‐like phenotype in cuprizone induced‐demyelination. Conversely, SF inhibited the M1‐like polarization with the increased remyelination which was attenuated by microglia depletion. SF inhibited production of M1‐like factors TNF‐&agr; and INF‐&ggr; in microglia, and thereby promoted the differentiation of OLN‐93 oligodendrocytes. SF down‐regulated lncRNA HOTAIR but up‐regulated miR‐136‐5p, and thus inactivated AKT2‐NF‐&kgr;B in cuprizone‐treated microglia. Importantly, lncRNA HOTAIR overexpression reversed the increased miR‐136‐5p expression by SF and thereby attenuated the inhibition of AKT2‐mediated NF‐&kgr;B activation. Mimic of miR‐136‐5p inhibited cuprizone‐induced activation of AKT2‐NF‐&kgr;B in the microglia. In summary, SF blocks microglia switching to a pro‐inflammatory M1‐like phenotype by ceRNA effect of miR‐136‐5p and lncRNA HOTAIR in cuprizone‐induced demyelination. Our findings show the therapeutic potential of SF for human MS probably by targeting epigenetic regulation in microglia.