Can sulforaphane protect against stroke damage?

Nrf2-regulated redox signalling in brain endothelial cells adapted to physiological O2 levels: consequences for ischemia-reperfusion injury and protection by sulforaphane (Ms Gabriela Warpsinski)

Supervised by Professor Giovanni Mann, a PhD student is working out if a compound in broccoli called sulforaphane could help to prevent or treat stroke. Professor Mann’s team has discovered that sulforaphane can protect small blood vessels in rodent brains affected by stroke. It rapidly enters the brain and increases the levels of an antioxidant protein called Nrf2. Nrf2 protects and minimises tissue damage in the brains of these animals. In this project, the student supervised by Professor Mann will try to understand more about how sulforaphane protects the cells lining blood vessels, including those in vessels in the brain, which are known as endothelial cells. Endothelial cells from the small blood vessels of the brain will be subjected to an ‘experimental’ stroke by temporarily removing oxygen and glucose that the cells need to survive. The student will then pre-treat cells with sulforaphane first, to find out if it protects cells from damage by increasing antioxidants like Nrf2. Understanding how sulforaphane protects endothelial cells from damage could help to develop new drugs to prevent or treat stroke.