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Green TRF, Rowe RK. Quantifying microglial morphology: an insight into function. Clin Exp Immunol 2024; 216:221-229. [PMID: 38456795 PMCID: PMC11097915 DOI: 10.1093/cei/uxae023] [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: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Microglia are specialized immune cells unique to the central nervous system (CNS). Microglia have a highly plastic morphology that changes rapidly in response to injury or infection. Qualitative and quantitative measurements of ever-changing microglial morphology are considered a cornerstone of many microglia-centric research studies. The distinctive morphological variations seen in microglia are a useful marker of inflammation and severity of tissue damage. Although a wide array of damage-associated microglial morphologies has been documented, the exact functions of these distinct morphologies are not fully understood. In this review, we discuss how microglia morphology is not synonymous with microglia function, however, morphological outcomes can be used to make inferences about microglial function. For a comprehensive examination of the reactive status of a microglial cell, both histological and genetic approaches should be combined. However, the importance of quality immunohistochemistry-based analyses should not be overlooked as they can succinctly answer many research questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tabitha R F Green
- Department of Integrative Physiology, The University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Rachel K Rowe
- Department of Integrative Physiology, The University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
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He Y, Tian H, Dai C, Wen R, Li X, Webster KA, Li W. Optimal Efficacy and Safety of Humanized Anti-Scg3 Antibody to Alleviate Oxygen-Induced Retinopathy. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 23:350. [PMID: 35008775 PMCID: PMC8745183 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23010350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Revised: 12/26/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a neovascular retinal disorder presenting in premature infants, is the leading causes of blindness in children. Currently, there is no approved drug therapy for ROP in the U.S., highlighting the urgent unmet clinical need for a novel therapeutic to treat the disease. Secretogranin III (Scg3) was recently identified as a disease-selective angiogenic factor, and Scg3-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies were reported to alleviate pathological retinal neovascularization in mouse models. In this study, we characterized the efficacy and safety of a full-length humanized anti-Scg3 antibody (hAb) to ameliorate retinal pathology in oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) mice, a surrogate model of ROP, by implementing histological and functional analyses. Our results demonstrate that the anti-Scg3 hAb outperforms the vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor aflibercept in terms of efficacy and safety to treat OIR mice. Our findings support the development of anti-Scg3 hAb for clinical application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ye He
- Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA; (Y.H.); (C.D.); (R.W.); (K.A.W.)
| | - Hong Tian
- Everglades Biopharma, LLC, Houston, TX 77054, USA;
| | - Chang Dai
- Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA; (Y.H.); (C.D.); (R.W.); (K.A.W.)
- Department of Ophthalmology, Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Rong Wen
- Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA; (Y.H.); (C.D.); (R.W.); (K.A.W.)
| | - Xiaorong Li
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Retinal Functions and Diseases, Tianjin Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Disease, Eye Institute and School of Optometry, Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital, Tianjin 300392, China;
| | - Keith A. Webster
- Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA; (Y.H.); (C.D.); (R.W.); (K.A.W.)
- Everglades Biopharma, LLC, Houston, TX 77054, USA;
- Department of Ophthalmology, Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Wei Li
- Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA; (Y.H.); (C.D.); (R.W.); (K.A.W.)
- Department of Ophthalmology, Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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Frenger MJ, Hecker C, Sindi M, Issberner A, Hartung HP, Meuth SG, Dietrich M, Albrecht P. Semi-Automated Live Tracking of Microglial Activation in CX3CR1 GFP Mice During Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis by Confocal Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy. Front Immunol 2021; 12:761776. [PMID: 34745138 PMCID: PMC8567040 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.761776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (cSLO) is a non-invasive technique for real-time imaging of the retina. We developed a step-by-step protocol for the semi-automatic evaluation of myeloid cells in cSLO images from CX3CR1GFP mice, expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) under control of the endogenous CX3C chemokine receptor 1 locus. We identified cSLO parameters allowing us to distinguish animals with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) from sham-treated/naïve animals. Especially cell count (CC) and the total microglial area (SuA) turned out to be reliable parameters. Comparing the cSLO results with clinical parameters, we found significant correlations between the clinical EAE score and the SuA and of the inner retinal layer thickness, measured by optical coherence tomography, with the CC as well as the SuA. As a final step, we performed immunohistochemistry to confirm that the GFP-expressing cells visualized by the cSLO are Iba1 positive and validated the step-by-step protocol against manual counting. We present a semi-automatic step-by-step protocol with a balance between fast data evaluation and adequate accuracy, which is optimized by the option to manually adapt the contrast threshold. This protocol may be useful for numerous research questions on the role of microglial polarization in models of inflammatory and degenerating CNS diseases involving the retina.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moritz J. Frenger
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Christina Hecker
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Mustafa Sindi
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Andrea Issberner
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Hans-Peter Hartung
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Brain and Mind Center, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sven G. Meuth
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Michael Dietrich
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Philipp Albrecht
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty, Düsseldorf, Germany
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