Objective:To evaluate the effect of selective cerebral mild hypothermia on small ubiquitin-like modifier 2/3 (SUMO2/3) modification of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) in a rat model of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R).Methods:Sixty clean-grade healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 6-8 weeks, weighing 240-260 g, were divided into 4 groups ( n=15 each) using a random number table method: sham operation group (S group), cerebral I/R group (I/R group), selective cerebral mild hypothermia group (HT group) and normal temperature group (NT group). The operation was performed under the monitoring of cerebral temperature and rectal temperature.Only the cervical blood vessels were exposed in S group, while focal cerebral I/R was induced by 2 h middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by 24 h reperfusion in anesthetized animals in the other three groups.In HT group and NT group, 4 and 37 ℃ normal saline was perfused through the left internal carotid artery at a rate of 80 ml·kg -1·h -1 for 15 min, respectively. Modified neurological severity score (mNSS) was assessed at 24 h of reperfusion. Then the rats were sacrificed under deep anesthesia, brains were removed, brain tissues were obtained for determination of the percentage of cerebral infarct size (by TTC staining), and the ischemic penumbra tissues in the cerebral cortex were removed for examination of the ultra-structural changes of mitochondria (with a transmission electron microscope) and for determination of the SUMO2/3 modification of Drp1 (by CO-IP), expression of total Drp1 (T-Drp1) and total cytochrome c (T-Cytc) (by Western blot), and expression of mitochondrial outer membrane Drp1 (M-Drp1) and cytoplasmic Cytc (C-Cytc) (by Western blot) after isolation of mitochondria and cytoplasm. Results:Compared with S group, the mNSS and percentage of cerebral infarct size were significantly increased, the expression of M-Drp1, T-Drp1, C-Cytc and T-Cytc was up-regulated, and SUMO2/3 modification of Drp1 in ischemic penumbra area was increased ( P<0.05), the fragmentation of mitochondria was aggravated, and cristae rupture and vacuolation were obvious in the other three groups. Compared with I/R group, the mNSS and percentage of cerebral infarct size were significantly decreased, the expression of M-Drp1, T-Drp1, C-Cytc and T-Cytc was down-regulated, SUMO2/3 modification of Drp1 was increased ( P<0.05), the fragmentation of mitochondria was significantly attenuated, and cristae rupture and vacuolation were weakened in HT group. There were no significant differences in these detection parameters between NT group and I/R group ( P>0.05). Conclusions:The mechanism by which selective cerebral mild hypothermia alleviates the cerebral I/R injury is related to increased SUMO2/3 modification of Drp1, decreased binding of Drp1 to mitochondrial outer membrane, and reduced mitochondrial excessive fission in rats.