Objective    To study the inhibitory effects of circular dumbbell decoy oligodeoxynucleotides targeting NF-κB on TNF-α expression in cortical neurons under the oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R).     Methods    The cultured neurons dissociated from the cortex of neonatal rats were observed on the 7th day after culture. To make the ischemia/reperfusion model in vitro

the neurons were exposed to OGD 4 h before cultured in norma

l culture media. The neurons were divided into 5 groups according to different processing methods 2 h before exposure to OGD

including normal group

OGD4 h/R6 h treated

NF-κB decoy ODNs treated

scrambled decoy ODNs treated and TransfastFast

TM

Transfection Reagent treated groups. The protein level of NF-κB P65 in primary neurons was detected by Western blotting. The protein and mRNA levels of TNF-α were detected by immunocytochemical method and RT-PCR

respectively.      Results    NF-κB decoy ODNs could effectively inhibit the expression levels of NF-κB P65 protein

TNF-α mRNA and protein in neurons (P0.05)

compared with other groups.     Conclusion    Circular dumbbell decoy ODNs targeting NF-κB could effectively inhibit the expressions of TNF-α mRNA and protein in neurons through restraining NF-κB activity.