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Dupré N, Drieu A, Joutel A. Pathophysiology of cerebral small vessel disease: a journey through recent discoveries. J Clin Invest 2024; 134:e172841. [PMID: 38747292 PMCID: PMC11093606 DOI: 10.1172/jci172841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) encompasses a heterogeneous group of age-related small vessel pathologies that affect multiple regions. Disease manifestations range from lesions incidentally detected on neuroimaging (white matter hyperintensities, small deep infarcts, microbleeds, or enlarged perivascular spaces) to severe disability and cognitive impairment. cSVD accounts for approximately 25% of ischemic strokes and the vast majority of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage and is also the most important vascular contributor to dementia. Despite its high prevalence and potentially long therapeutic window, there are still no mechanism-based treatments. Here, we provide an overview of the recent advances in this field. We summarize recent data highlighting the remarkable continuum between monogenic and multifactorial cSVDs involving NOTCH3, HTRA1, and COL4A1/A2 genes. Taking a vessel-centric view, we discuss possible cause-and-effect relationships between risk factors, structural and functional vessel changes, and disease manifestations, underscoring some major knowledge gaps. Although endothelial dysfunction is rightly considered a central feature of cSVD, the contributions of smooth muscle cells, pericytes, and other perivascular cells warrant continued investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Dupré
- Université Paris Cité, Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris (IPNP), INSERM U1266, Paris, France
| | - Antoine Drieu
- Université Paris Cité, Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris (IPNP), INSERM U1266, Paris, France
| | - Anne Joutel
- Université Paris Cité, Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris (IPNP), INSERM U1266, Paris, France
- GHU-Paris Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Hôpital Sainte Anne, Paris, France
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2
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Stamenkovic S, Schmid F, Weitermann N, Takasaki K, Bonney SK, Sosa MJ, Li Y, Bennett HC, Kim Y, Waters J, Shih AY. Impaired drainage through capillary-venous networks contributes to age-related white matter loss. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.11.579849. [PMID: 38405879 PMCID: PMC10888936 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.11.579849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
The gradual loss of cerebral white matter contributes to cognitive decline during aging. However, microvascular networks that support the metabolic demands of white matter remain poorly defined. We used in vivo deep multi-photon imaging to characterize microvascular networks that perfuse cortical layer 6 and corpus callosum, a highly studied region of white matter in the mouse brain. We show that these deep tissues are exclusively drained by sparse and wide-reaching venules, termed principal cortical venules, which mirror vascular architecture at the human cortical-U fiber interface. During aging, capillary networks draining into deep branches of principal cortical venules are selectively constricted, reduced in density, and diminished in pericyte numbers. This causes hypo-perfusion in deep tissues, and correlates with gliosis and demyelination, whereas superficial tissues become relatively hyper-perfused. Thus, age-related impairment of capillary-venular drainage is a key vascular deficit that contributes to the unique vulnerability of cerebral white matter during brain aging.
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Jiang H, Liu B, Lin J, Xue T, Han Y, Lu C, Zhou S, Gu Y, Xu F, Shen Y, Xu L, Sun H. MuSCs and IPCs: roles in skeletal muscle homeostasis, aging and injury. Cell Mol Life Sci 2024; 81:67. [PMID: 38289345 PMCID: PMC10828015 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-023-05096-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Skeletal muscle is a highly specialized tissue composed of myofibres that performs crucial functions in movement and metabolism. In response to external stimuli and injuries, a range of stem/progenitor cells, with muscle stem cells or satellite cells (MuSCs) being the predominant cell type, are rapidly activated to repair and regenerate skeletal muscle within weeks. Under normal conditions, MuSCs remain in a quiescent state, but become proliferative and differentiate into new myofibres in response to injury. In addition to MuSCs, some interstitial progenitor cells (IPCs) such as fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs), pericytes, interstitial stem cells expressing PW1 and negative for Pax7 (PICs), muscle side population cells (SPCs), CD133-positive cells and Twist2-positive cells have been identified as playing direct or indirect roles in regenerating muscle tissue. Here, we highlight the heterogeneity, molecular markers, and functional properties of these interstitial progenitor cells, and explore the role of muscle stem/progenitor cells in skeletal muscle homeostasis, aging, and muscle-related diseases. This review provides critical insights for future stem cell therapies aimed at treating muscle-related diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haiyan Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-Innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Tissue Engineering Technology Products, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Boya Liu
- Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-Innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Tissue Engineering Technology Products, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Junfei Lin
- Department of Orthopedics, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Tong Xue
- Department of Paediatrics, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, People's Republic of China
| | - Yimin Han
- Department of Paediatrics, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, People's Republic of China
| | - Chunfeng Lu
- Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital 2 of Nantong University and First People's Hospital of Nantong City, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Songlin Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-Innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Tissue Engineering Technology Products, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Yun Gu
- Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-Innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Tissue Engineering Technology Products, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Feng Xu
- Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital 2 of Nantong University and First People's Hospital of Nantong City, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuntian Shen
- Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-Innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Tissue Engineering Technology Products, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
| | - Lingchi Xu
- Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-Innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Tissue Engineering Technology Products, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
| | - Hualin Sun
- Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-Innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Tissue Engineering Technology Products, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
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Popov A, Brazhe N, Morozova K, Yashin K, Bychkov M, Nosova O, Sutyagina O, Brazhe A, Parshina E, Li L, Medyanik I, Korzhevskii DE, Shenkarev Z, Lyukmanova E, Verkhratsky A, Semyanov A. Mitochondrial malfunction and atrophy of astrocytes in the aged human cerebral cortex. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8380. [PMID: 38104196 PMCID: PMC10725430 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44192-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023] Open
Abstract
How aging affects cells of the human brain active milieu remains largely unknown. Here, we analyze astrocytes and neurons in the neocortical tissue of younger (22-50 years) and older (51-72 years) adults. Aging decreases the amount of reduced mitochondrial cytochromes in astrocytes but not neurons. The protein-to-lipid ratio decreases in astrocytes and increases in neurons. Aged astrocytes show morphological atrophy quantified by the decreased length of branches, decreased volume fraction of leaflets, and shrinkage of the anatomical domain. Atrophy correlates with the loss of gap junction coupling between astrocytes and increased input resistance. Aging is accompanied by the upregulation of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and downregulation of membrane-cytoskeleton linker ezrin associated with leaflets. No significant changes in neuronal excitability or spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic signaling is observed. Thus, brain aging is associated with the impaired morphological presence and mitochondrial malfunction of cortical astrocytes, but not neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Popov
- College of Medicine, Jiaxing University, 314001, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Pro, China
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya street 16/10, Moscow, 117997, Russia
| | - Nadezda Brazhe
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya street 16/10, Moscow, 117997, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119234, Russia
| | - Kseniia Morozova
- Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119234, Russia
| | - Konstantin Yashin
- Department of Neurosurgery, Privolzhskiy Research Medical University, Nizhny, Novgorod, 603005, Russia
| | - Maxim Bychkov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya street 16/10, Moscow, 117997, Russia
| | - Olga Nosova
- Institute of Experimental Medicine, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia
| | - Oksana Sutyagina
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya street 16/10, Moscow, 117997, Russia
| | - Alexey Brazhe
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya street 16/10, Moscow, 117997, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119234, Russia
| | - Evgenia Parshina
- Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119234, Russia
| | - Li Li
- College of Medicine, Jiaxing University, 314001, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Pro, China
| | - Igor Medyanik
- Department of Neurosurgery, Privolzhskiy Research Medical University, Nizhny, Novgorod, 603005, Russia
| | | | - Zakhar Shenkarev
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya street 16/10, Moscow, 117997, Russia
| | - Ekaterina Lyukmanova
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya street 16/10, Moscow, 117997, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119234, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, 518172, Shenzhen, China
| | - Alexei Verkhratsky
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK.
- Achucarro Center for Neuroscience, IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011, Bilbao, Spain.
- Department of Neurosciences, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU and CIBERNED, Leioa, Spain.
| | - Alexey Semyanov
- College of Medicine, Jiaxing University, 314001, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Pro, China.
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya street 16/10, Moscow, 117997, Russia.
- Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119234, Russia.
- Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, 119435, Russia.
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Bonney SK, Nielson CD, Sosa MJ, Shih AY. Capillary regression leads to sustained local hypoperfusion by inducing constriction of upstream transitional vessels. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.10.28.564529. [PMID: 37961686 PMCID: PMC10635020 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.28.564529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
In the brain, a microvascular sensory web coordinates oxygen delivery to regions of neuronal activity. This involves a dense network of capillaries that send conductive signals upstream to feeding arterioles to promote vasodilation and blood flow. Although this process is critical to the metabolic supply of healthy brain tissue, it may also be a point of vulnerability in disease. Deterioration of capillary networks is a hallmark of many neurological disorders and how this web is engaged during vascular damage remains unknown. We performed in vivo two-photon microscopy on young adult mural cell reporter mice and induced focal capillary injuries using precise two-photon laser irradiation of single capillaries. We found that ∼63% of the injuries resulted in regression of the capillary segment 7-14 days following injury, and the remaining repaired to re-establish blood flow within 7 days. Injuries that resulted in capillary regression induced sustained vasoconstriction in the upstream arteriole-capillary transition (ACT) zone at least 21 days post-injury in both awake and anesthetized mice. This abnormal vasoconstriction involved attenuation of vasomotor dynamics and uncoupling from mural cell calcium signaling following capillary regression. Consequently, blood flow was reduced in the ACT zone and in secondary, uninjured downstream capillaries. These findings demonstrate how capillary injury and regression, as often seen in age-related neurological disease, can impair the microvascular sensory web and contribute to cerebral hypoperfusion. SIGNIFICANCE Deterioration of the capillary network is a characteristic of many neurological diseases and can exacerbate neuronal dysfunction and degeneration due to poor blood perfusion. Here we show that focal capillary injuries can induce vessel regression and elicit sustained vasoconstriction in upstream transitional vessels that branch from cortical penetrating arterioles. This reduces blood flow to broader, uninjured regions of the same microvascular network. These findings suggest that widespread and cumulative damage to brain capillaries in neurological disease may broadly affect blood supply and contribute to hypoperfusion through their remote actions.
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Mesa KR, O’Connor KA, Ng C, Salvatore SP, Littman DR. Niche-specific macrophage loss promotes skin capillary aging. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.08.25.554832. [PMID: 37662387 PMCID: PMC10473701 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.25.554832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
All mammalian organs depend upon resident macrophage populations to coordinate repair processes and facilitate tissue-specific functions1-3. Recent work has established that functionally distinct macrophage populations reside in discrete tissue niches and are replenished through some combination of local proliferation and monocyte recruitment4,5. Moreover, decline in macrophage abundance and function in tissues has been shown to contribute to many age-associated pathologies, such as atherosclerosis, cancer, and neurodegeneration6-8. Despite these advances, the cellular mechanisms that coordinate macrophage organization and replenishment within an aging tissue niche remain largely unknown. Here we show that capillary-associated macrophages (CAMs) are selectively lost over time, which contributes to impaired vascular repair and tissue perfusion in older mice. To investigate resident macrophage behavior in vivo, we have employed intravital two-photon microscopy to non-invasively image in live mice the skin capillary plexus, a spatially well-defined model of niche aging that undergoes rarefication and functional decline with age. We find that CAMs are lost with age at a rate that outpaces that of capillary loss, leading to the progressive accumulation of capillary niches without an associated macrophage in both mice and humans. Phagocytic activity of CAMs was locally required to repair obstructed capillary blood flow, leaving macrophage-less niches selectively vulnerable to both homeostatic and injury-induced loss in blood flow. Our work demonstrates that homeostatic renewal of resident macrophages is not as finely tuned as has been previously suggested9-11. Specifically, we found that neighboring macrophages do not proliferate or reorganize sufficiently to maintain an optimal population across the skin capillary niche in the absence of additional cues from acute tissue damage or increased abundance of growth factors, such as colony stimulating factor 1 (CSF1). Such limitations in homeostatic renewal and organization of various niche-resident cell types are potentially early contributors to tissue aging, which may provide novel opportunities for future therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kailin R. Mesa
- Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Kevin A. O’Connor
- Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Charles Ng
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY 10021, USA
| | - Steven P. Salvatore
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY 10021, USA
| | - Dan R. Littman
- Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York, NY 10016, USA
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Shin P, Pian Q, Ishikawa H, Hamanaka G, Mandeville ET, Guo S, Fu B, Alfadhel M, Allu SR, Şencan-Eğilmez I, Li B, Ran C, Vinogradov SA, Ayata C, Lo E, Arai K, Devor A, Sakadžić S. Aerobic exercise reverses aging-induced depth-dependent decline in cerebral microcirculation. eLife 2023; 12:e86329. [PMID: 37402178 PMCID: PMC10319437 DOI: 10.7554/elife.86329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Aging is a major risk factor for cognitive impairment. Aerobic exercise benefits brain function and may promote cognitive health in older adults. However, underlying biological mechanisms across cerebral gray and white matter are poorly understood. Selective vulnerability of the white matter to small vessel disease and a link between white matter health and cognitive function suggests a potential role for responses in deep cerebral microcirculation. Here, we tested whether aerobic exercise modulates cerebral microcirculatory changes induced by aging. To this end, we carried out a comprehensive quantitative examination of changes in cerebral microvascular physiology in cortical gray and subcortical white matter in mice (3-6 vs. 19-21 months old), and asked whether and how exercise may rescue age-induced deficits. In the sedentary group, aging caused a more severe decline in cerebral microvascular perfusion and oxygenation in deep (infragranular) cortical layers and subcortical white matter compared with superficial (supragranular) cortical layers. Five months of voluntary aerobic exercise partly renormalized microvascular perfusion and oxygenation in aged mice in a depth-dependent manner, and brought these spatial distributions closer to those of young adult sedentary mice. These microcirculatory effects were accompanied by an improvement in cognitive function. Our work demonstrates the selective vulnerability of the deep cortex and subcortical white matter to aging-induced decline in microcirculation, as well as the responsiveness of these regions to aerobic exercise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Shin
- Athinoula A Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
| | - Qi Pian
- Athinoula A Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
| | - Hidehiro Ishikawa
- Neuroprotection Research Laboratory, Departments of Radiology and Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
| | - Gen Hamanaka
- Neuroprotection Research Laboratory, Departments of Radiology and Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
| | - Emiri T Mandeville
- Neuroprotection Research Laboratory, Departments of Radiology and Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
| | - Shuzhen Guo
- Neuroprotection Research Laboratory, Departments of Radiology and Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
| | - Buyin Fu
- Athinoula A Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
| | - Mohammed Alfadhel
- Athinoula A Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
- Department of Bioengineering, Northeastern University, Boston, United States
| | - Srinivasa Rao Allu
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States
| | - Ikbal Şencan-Eğilmez
- Athinoula A Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
- Biophotonics Research Center, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, United States
| | - Baoqiang Li
- Athinoula A Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
- Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Chongzhao Ran
- Athinoula A Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
| | - Sergei A Vinogradov
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States
| | - Cenk Ayata
- Neurovascular Research Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
- Stroke Service, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
| | - Eng Lo
- Neuroprotection Research Laboratory, Departments of Radiology and Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
| | - Ken Arai
- Neuroprotection Research Laboratory, Departments of Radiology and Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
| | - Anna Devor
- Athinoula A Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, United States
| | - Sava Sakadžić
- Athinoula A Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, United States
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Zhukov O, He C, Soylu-Kucharz R, Cai C, Lauritzen AD, Aldana BI, Björkqvist M, Lauritzen M, Kucharz K. Preserved blood-brain barrier and neurovascular coupling in female 5xFAD model of Alzheimer's disease. Front Aging Neurosci 2023; 15:1089005. [PMID: 37261266 PMCID: PMC10228387 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1089005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Dysfunction of the cerebral vasculature is considered one of the key components of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the mechanisms affecting individual brain vessels are poorly understood. Methods Here, using in vivo two-photon microscopy in superficial cortical layers and ex vivo imaging across brain regions, we characterized blood-brain barrier (BBB) function and neurovascular coupling (NVC) at the level of individual brain vessels in adult female 5xFAD mice, an aggressive amyloid-β (Aβ) model of AD. Results We report a lack of abnormal increase in adsorptive-mediated transcytosis of albumin and preserved paracellular barrier for fibrinogen and small molecules despite an extensive load of Aβ. Likewise, the NVC responses to somatosensory stimulation were preserved at all regulatory segments of the microvasculature: penetrating arterioles, precapillary sphincters, and capillaries. Lastly, the Aβ plaques did not affect the density of capillary pericytes. Conclusion Our findings provide direct evidence of preserved microvascular function in the 5xFAD mice and highlight the critical dependence of the experimental outcomes on the choice of preclinical models of AD. We propose that the presence of parenchymal Aβ does not warrant BBB and NVC dysfunction and that the generalized view that microvascular impairment is inherent to Aβ aggregation may need to be revised.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oleg Zhukov
- Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Chen He
- Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Rana Soylu-Kucharz
- Biomarkers in Brain Disease, Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Changsi Cai
- Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Blanca Irene Aldana
- Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Maria Björkqvist
- Biomarkers in Brain Disease, Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Martin Lauritzen
- Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Krzysztof Kucharz
- Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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