文章基本信息

标题：Microglial morphology in Alzheimer’s disease and after Aβ immunotherapy
本地全文：下载
作者：Diana K. Franco-Bocanegra ; Yamina Gourari ; Ciaran McAuley 等
期刊名称：Scientific Reports
电子版ISSN：2045-2322
出版年度：2021
卷号：11
DOI：10.1038/s41598-021-95535-0
语种：English
出版社：Springer Nature
摘要：Microglia are the brain immune cells and their function is highly dependent on cell motility. It was hypothesised that morphological variability leads to differences in motility, ultimately impacting on the microglial function. Here, we assessed microglial morphology in 32 controls, 44 Alzheimer’s disease (AD) cases and 16 AD cases from patients immunised against Aβ42 (iAD) using 2D and 3D approaches. Our 2D assessment showed an increased number of microglia in iAD vs. AD ( P = 0.032) and controls ( P = 0.018). Ramified microglia were fewer in AD vs. controls ( P = 0.041) but increased in iAD compared to AD ( P < 0.001) and controls ( P = 0.006). 3D reconstructions highlighted larger cell bodies in AD vs. controls ( P = 0.049) and increased total process length in iAD vs. AD ( P = 0.032), with negative correlations detected for pan-Aβ load with total process length ( P < 0.001) in AD and number of primary processes ( P = 0.043) in iAD. In summary, reactive/amoeboid microglia are the most represented population in the aged human brain. AD does not affect the number of microglia, but the ramified population is decreased adopting a more reactive morphology. Aβ removal by immunotherapy leads to increased ramified microglia, implying that the cells retain plasticity in an aged disease brain meriting further investigation.