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de Vries LE, Huitinga I, Kessels HW, Swaab DF, Verhaagen J. The concept of resilience to Alzheimer's Disease: current definitions and cellular and molecular mechanisms. Mol Neurodegener 2024; 19:33. [PMID: 38589893 PMCID: PMC11003087 DOI: 10.1186/s13024-024-00719-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Some individuals are able to maintain their cognitive abilities despite the presence of significant Alzheimer's Disease (AD) neuropathological changes. This discrepancy between cognition and pathology has been labeled as resilience and has evolved into a widely debated concept. External factors such as cognitive stimulation are associated with resilience to AD, but the exact cellular and molecular underpinnings are not completely understood. In this review, we discuss the current definitions used in the field, highlight the translational approaches used to investigate resilience to AD and summarize the underlying cellular and molecular substrates of resilience that have been derived from human and animal studies, which have received more and more attention in the last few years. From these studies the picture emerges that resilient individuals are different from AD patients in terms of specific pathological species and their cellular reaction to AD pathology, which possibly helps to maintain cognition up to a certain tipping point. Studying these rare resilient individuals can be of great importance as it could pave the way to novel therapeutic avenues for AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luuk E de Vries
- Department of Neuroregeneration, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Inge Huitinga
- Department of Neuroimmunology, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Helmut W Kessels
- Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Dick F Swaab
- Department of Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, an Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Joost Verhaagen
- Department of Neuroregeneration, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Almeida D, Fiori LM, Chen GG, Aouabed Z, Lutz PE, Zhang TY, Mechawar N, Meaney MJ, Turecki G. Oxytocin receptor expression and epigenetic regulation in the anterior cingulate cortex of individuals with a history of severe childhood abuse. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2022; 136:105600. [PMID: 34839083 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Revised: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Childhood abuse significantly increases the lifetime risk of negative mental health outcomes. The oxytocinergic system, which plays a role in complex social and emotional behaviors, has been shown to be sensitive to early-life experiences. While previous studies have investigated the relationship between early-life adversity and oxytocin, they did so with peripheral samples. We, therefore, aimed to characterize the relationship between early-life adversity and oxytocin receptor (OXTR) expression in the brain, using post-mortem human samples, as well as a rodent model of naturally occurring variation in early-life environment. Focusing on the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, we compared OXTR expression and epigenetic regulation between MDD suicides with (N = 26) and without history of childhood abuse (N = 24), as well as psychiatrically healthy controls (N = 23). We also compared Oxtr expression in the cingulate cortex of adult rats raised by dams displaying high (N = 13) and low levels (N = 12) of licking and grooming (LG) behavior. Overall, our results indicate that childhood abuse associates with an upregulation of OXTR expression, and that similarly, this relationship is also observed in the cingulate cortex of adult rats raised by low-LG dams. Additionally, we found an effect of rs53576 genotype on expression, showing that carriers of the A variant also show upregulated OXTR expression. The effects of early-life adversity and rs53576 genotype on OXTR expression are, however, not explained by differences in DNA methylation within and around the MT region of the OXTR gene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Almeida
- McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Hospital Research Center, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Laura M Fiori
- McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Hospital Research Center, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Gary G Chen
- McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Hospital Research Center, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Zahia Aouabed
- McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Hospital Research Center, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Pierre-Eric Lutz
- McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Hospital Research Center, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Strasbourg, Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Institut des Neurosciences Cellulaires et Intégratives UPR3212, 67000 Strasbourg, France
| | - Tie-Yuan Zhang
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada; Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, McGill University, Montréal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Naguib Mechawar
- McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Hospital Research Center, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada
| | - Michael J Meaney
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada; Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2T5, Canada; Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore City, Singapore; Department of Pediatrics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Gustavo Turecki
- McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Hospital Research Center, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada.
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Moors TE, Maat CA, Niedieker D, Mona D, Petersen D, Timmermans-Huisman E, Kole J, El-Mashtoly SF, Spycher L, Zago W, Barbour R, Mundigl O, Kaluza K, Huber S, Hug MN, Kremer T, Ritter M, Dziadek S, Geurts JJG, Gerwert K, Britschgi M, van de Berg WDJ. The subcellular arrangement of alpha-synuclein proteoforms in the Parkinson's disease brain as revealed by multicolor STED microscopy. Acta Neuropathol 2021; 142:423-448. [PMID: 34115198 PMCID: PMC8357756 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-021-02329-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2021] [Revised: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Various post-translationally modified (PTM) proteoforms of alpha-synuclein (aSyn)-including C-terminally truncated (CTT) and Serine 129 phosphorylated (Ser129-p) aSyn-accumulate in Lewy bodies (LBs) in different regions of the Parkinson's disease (PD) brain. Insight into the distribution of these proteoforms within LBs and subcellular compartments may aid in understanding the orchestration of Lewy pathology in PD. We applied epitope-specific antibodies against CTT and Ser129-p aSyn proteoforms and different aSyn domains in immunohistochemical multiple labelings on post-mortem brain tissue from PD patients and non-neurological, aged controls, which were scanned using high-resolution 3D multicolor confocal and stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy. Our multiple labeling setup highlighted a consistent onion skin-type 3D architecture in mature nigral LBs in which an intricate and structured-appearing framework of Ser129-p aSyn and cytoskeletal elements encapsulates a core enriched in CTT aSyn species. By label-free CARS microscopy we found that enrichments of proteins and lipids were mainly localized to the central portion of nigral aSyn-immunopositive (aSyn+) inclusions. Outside LBs, we observed that 122CTT aSyn+ punctae localized at mitochondrial membranes in the cytoplasm of neurons in PD and control brains, suggesting a physiological role for 122CTT aSyn outside of LBs. In contrast, very limited to no Ser129-p aSyn immunoreactivity was observed in brains of non-neurological controls, while the alignment of Ser129-p aSyn in a neuronal cytoplasmic network was characteristic for brains with (incidental) LB disease. Interestingly, Ser129-p aSyn+ network profiles were not only observed in neurons containing LBs but also in neurons without LBs particularly in donors at early disease stage, pointing towards a possible subcellular pathological phenotype preceding LB formation. Together, our high-resolution and 3D multicolor microscopy observations in the post-mortem human brain provide insights into potential mechanisms underlying a regulated LB morphogenesis.
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Lorenzi T, Sagrati A, Montanari E, Senzacqua M, Morroni M, Fabri M. Hypoxia-induced expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase in astrocytes of human corpus callosum. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 226:1353-1361. [PMID: 33709161 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02244-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Nitric oxide (NO) is a gaseous neurotransmitter largely diffused in the brain; among other functions, it regulates the cerebral blood flow in response to hypoxia. NO can be synthetized by three different isoforms of the enzyme NO synthase: neuronal (nNOS), typical of neurons, endothelial and inducible. The aim of this study was to assess nNOS expression in human corpus callosum (CC) astrocytes, and its relationship with the hypoxia duration. Autoptic samples of CC from adult human subjects have been processed with immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence using antibodies anti-nNOS and anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), the astrocyte marker. Results demonstrated for the first time the presence of nNOS-immunopositive astrocytes in the human CC. In particular, nNOS-positive astrocytes were absent in subjects deceased after a short hypoxia; their number and labeling intensity, however, increased with hypoxia prolongation. Neuronal NOS immunopositivity of CC astrocytes seems thus related to the hypoxia duration and the consequent brain damage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Lorenzi
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Section of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Andrea Sagrati
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Section of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Eva Montanari
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Martina Senzacqua
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Section of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Manrico Morroni
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Section of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy.,Electron Microscopy Unit, United Hospitals, Via Conca 71, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Mara Fabri
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Section of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy.
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Tendler BC, Foxley S, Hernandez-Fernandez M, Cottaar M, Scott C, Ansorge O, Miller KL, Jbabdi S. Use of multi-flip angle measurements to account for transmit inhomogeneity and non-Gaussian diffusion in DW-SSFP. Neuroimage 2020; 220:117113. [PMID: 32621975 PMCID: PMC7573656 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2019] [Revised: 06/25/2020] [Accepted: 06/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Diffusion-weighted steady-state free precession (DW-SSFP) is an SNR-efficient diffusion imaging method. The improved SNR and resolution available at ultra-high field has motivated its use at 7T. However, these data tend to have severe B1 inhomogeneity, leading not only to spatially varying SNR, but also to spatially varying diffusivity estimates, confounding comparisons both between and within datasets. This study proposes the acquisition of DW-SSFP data at two-flip angles in combination with explicit modelling of non-Gaussian diffusion to address B1 inhomogeneity at 7T. Data were acquired from five fixed whole human post-mortem brains with a pair of flip angles that jointly optimize the diffusion contrast-to-noise (CNR) across the brain. We compared one- and two-flip angle DW-SSFP data using a tensor model that incorporates the full DW-SSFP Buxton signal, in addition to tractography performed over the cingulum bundle and pre-frontal cortex using a ball & sticks model. The two-flip angle DW-SSFP data produced angular uncertainty and tractography estimates close to the CNR optimal regions in the single-flip angle datasets. The two-flip angle tensor estimates were subsequently fitted using a modified DW-SSFP signal model that incorporates a gamma distribution of diffusivities. This allowed us to generate tensor maps at a single effective b-value yielding more consistent SNR across tissue, in addition to eliminating the B1 dependence on diffusion coefficients and orientation maps. Our proposed approach will allow the use of DW-SSFP at 7T to derive diffusivity estimates that have greater interpretability, both within a single dataset and between experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin C Tendler
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Sean Foxley
- Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Michiel Cottaar
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Connor Scott
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Olaf Ansorge
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Karla L Miller
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Saad Jbabdi
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Mizee MR, Miedema SSM, van der Poel M, Adelia, Schuurman KG, van Strien ME, Melief J, Smolders J, Hendrickx DA, Heutinck KM, Hamann J, Huitinga I. Isolation of primary microglia from the human post-mortem brain: effects of ante- and post-mortem variables. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2017; 5:16. [PMID: 28212663 PMCID: PMC5316206 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-017-0418-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2017] [Accepted: 02/05/2017] [Indexed: 03/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Microglia are key players in the central nervous system in health and disease. Much pioneering research on microglia function has been carried out in vivo with the use of genetic animal models. However, to fully understand the role of microglia in neurological and psychiatric disorders, it is crucial to study primary human microglia from brain donors. We have developed a rapid procedure for the isolation of pure human microglia from autopsy tissue using density gradient centrifugation followed by CD11b-specific cell selection. The protocol can be completed in 4 h, with an average yield of 450,000 and 145,000 viable cells per gram of white and grey matter tissue respectively. This method allows for the immediate phenotyping of microglia in relation to brain donor clinical variables, and shows the microglia population to be distinguishable from autologous choroid plexus macrophages. This protocol has been applied to samples from over 100 brain donors from the Netherlands Brain Bank, providing a robust dataset to analyze the effects of age, post-mortem delay, brain acidity, and neurological diagnosis on microglia yield and phenotype. Our data show that cerebrospinal fluid pH is positively correlated to microglial cell yield, but donor age and post-mortem delay do not negatively affect viable microglia yield. Analysis of CD45 and CD11b expression showed that changes in microglia phenotype can be attributed to a neurological diagnosis, and are not influenced by variation in ante- and post-mortem parameters. Cryogenic storage of primary microglia was shown to be possible, albeit with variable levels of recovery and effects on phenotype and RNA quality. Microglial gene expression substantially changed due to culture, including the loss of the microglia-specific markers, showing the importance of immediate microglia phenotyping. We conclude that primary microglia can be isolated effectively and rapidly from human post-mortem brain tissue, allowing for the study of the microglial population in light of the neuropathological status of the donor.
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Foxley S, Jbabdi S, Clare S, Lam W, Ansorge O, Douaud G, Miller K. Improving diffusion-weighted imaging of post-mortem human brains: SSFP at 7 T. Neuroimage 2014; 102 Pt 2:579-89. [PMID: 25128709 PMCID: PMC4229505 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.08.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2014] [Revised: 07/17/2014] [Accepted: 08/06/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Post-mortem diffusion imaging of whole, human brains has potential to provide data for validation or high-resolution anatomical investigations. Previous work has demonstrated improvements in data acquired with diffusion-weighted steady-state free precession (DW-SSFP) compared with conventional diffusion-weighted spin echo at 3T. This is due to the ability of DW-SSFP to overcome signal-to-noise and diffusion contrast losses brought about by tissue fixation related decreases in T2 and ADC. In this work, data of four post-mortem human brains were acquired at 3T and 7 T, using DW-SSFP with similar effective b-values (b(eff)~5150 s/mm(2)) for inter-field strength comparisons; in addition, DW-SSFP data were acquired at 7 T with higher b(eff) (~8550 s/mm(2)) for intra-field strength comparisons. Results demonstrate that both datasets acquired at 7 T had higher SNR and diffusion contrast than data acquired at 3T, and data acquired at higher b(eff) had improved diffusion contrast than at lower b(eff) at 7 T. These results translate to improved estimates of secondary fiber orientations leading to higher fidelity tractography results compared with data acquired at 3T. Specifically, tractography streamlines of cortical projections originating from the corpus callosum, corticospinal tract, and superior longitudinal fasciculus were more successful at crossing the centrum semiovale and projected closer to the cortex. Results suggest that DW-SSFP at 7 T is a preferential method for acquiring diffusion-weighted data of post-mortem human brain, specifically where the primary region of interest involves crossing white matter tracts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean Foxley
- FMRIB Centre, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Saad Jbabdi
- FMRIB Centre, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Stuart Clare
- FMRIB Centre, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Wilfred Lam
- FMRIB Centre, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Olaf Ansorge
- Division of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Gwenaelle Douaud
- FMRIB Centre, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Karla Miller
- FMRIB Centre, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Bernstein HG, Bannier J, Meyer-Lotz G, Steiner J, Keilhoff G, Dobrowolny H, Walter M, Bogerts B. Distribution of immunoreactive glutamine synthetase in the adult human and mouse brain. Qualitative and quantitative observations with special emphasis on extra-astroglial protein localization. J Chem Neuroanat 2014; 61-62:33-50. [PMID: 25058171 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2014.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2014] [Revised: 07/14/2014] [Accepted: 07/14/2014] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Glutamine synthetase catalyzes the ATP-dependent condensation of ammonia and glutamate to form glutamine, thus playing a pivotal role in glutamate and glutamine homoeostasis. Despite a plethora of studies on this enzyme, knowledge about the regional and cellular distribution of this enzyme in human brain is still fragmentary. Therefore, we mapped fourteen post-mortem brains of psychically healthy individuals for the distribution of the glutamine synthetase immunoreactive protein. It was found that glutamine synthetase immunoreactivity is expressed in multiple gray and white matter astrocytes, but also in oligodendrocytes, ependymal cells and certain neurons. Since a possible extra-astrocytic expression of glutamine synthetase is highly controversial, we paid special attention to its appearance in oligodendrocytes and neurons. By double immunolabeling of mouse brain slices and cultured mouse brain cells for glutamine synthetase and cell-type-specific markers we provide evidence that besides astrocytes subpopulations of oligodendrocytes, microglial cells and neurons express glutamine synthetase. Moreover, we show that glutamine synthetase-immunopositive neurons are not randomly distributed throughout human and mouse brain, but represent a subpopulation of nitrergic (i.e. neuronal nitric oxide synthase expressing) neurons. Possible functional implications of an extra-astrocytic localization of glutamine synthetase are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans-Gert Bernstein
- Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University, Faculty of Medicine, Magdeburg, Germany.
| | - Jana Bannier
- Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University, Faculty of Medicine, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Gabriela Meyer-Lotz
- Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University, Faculty of Medicine, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Johann Steiner
- Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University, Faculty of Medicine, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Gerburg Keilhoff
- Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Faculty of Medicine, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Henrik Dobrowolny
- Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University, Faculty of Medicine, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Martin Walter
- Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University, Faculty of Medicine, Magdeburg, Germany; Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Bernhard Bogerts
- Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University, Faculty of Medicine, Magdeburg, Germany
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Forabosco P, Ramasamy A, Trabzuni D, Walker R, Smith C, Bras J, Levine AP, Hardy J, Pocock JM, Guerreiro R, Weale ME, Ryten M. Insights into TREM2 biology by network analysis of human brain gene expression data. Neurobiol Aging 2013; 34:2699-714. [PMID: 23855984 PMCID: PMC3988951 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2013.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 134] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2013] [Accepted: 05/01/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Rare variants in TREM2 cause susceptibility to late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Here we use microarray-based expression data generated from 101 neuropathologically normal individuals and covering 10 brain regions, including the hippocampus, to understand TREM2 biology in human brain. Using network analysis, we detect a highly preserved TREM2-containing module in human brain, show that it relates to microglia, and demonstrate that TREM2 is a hub gene in 5 brain regions, including the hippocampus, suggesting that it can drive module function. Using enrichment analysis we show significant overrepresentation of genes implicated in the adaptive and innate immune system. Inspection of genes with the highest connectivity to TREM2 suggests that it plays a key role in mediating changes in the microglial cytoskeleton necessary not only for phagocytosis, but also migration. Most importantly, we show that the TREM2-containing module is significantly enriched for genes genetically implicated in Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, and motor neuron disease, implying that these diseases share common pathways centered on microglia and that among the genes identified are possible new disease-relevant genes.
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