Cited by 266Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration MechanismsAlzheimer's disease research and treatmentsNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

CD8+ T-cells infiltrate Alzheimer’s disease brains and regulate neuronal- and synapse-related gene expression in APP-PS1 transgenic mice

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Unger, M.S., Li, E., Scharnagl, L., Poupardin, R., Altendorfer, B., Mrowetz, H., Hutter-Paier, B., Weiger, T.M. +3 more·2020·Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

Abstract

Neuroinflammation is a major contributor to disease progression in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and is characterized by the activity of brain resident glial cells, in particular microglia cells. However, there is increasing evidence that peripheral immune cells infiltrate the brain at certain stages of AD progression and shape disease pathology. We recently identified CD8+ T-cells in the brain parenchyma of APP-PS1 transgenic mice being tightly associated with microglia as well as with neuronal structures. The functional role of CD8+ T-cells in the AD brain is however completely unexplored. Here, we demonstrate increased numbers of intra-parenchymal CD8+ T-cells in human AD post-mortem hippocampus, which was replicated in APP-PS1 mice. Also, aged WT mice show a remarkable infiltration of CD8+ T-cells, which was more pronounced and had an earlier onset in APP-PS1 mice. To address their functional relevance in AD, we successfully ablated the pool of CD8+ T-cells in the blood, spleen and brain from 12 months-old APP-PS1 and WT mice for a total of 4 weeks using an anti-CD8 antibody treatment. While the treatment at this time of disease stage did neither affect the cognitive outcome nor plaque pathology, RNAseq analysis of the hippocampal transcriptome from APP-PS1 mice lacking CD8+ T-cells revealed highly altered neuronal- and synapse-related gene expression including an up-regulation for neuronal immediate early genes (IEGs) such as the Activity Regulated Cytoskeleton Associated Protein (Arc) and the Neuronal PAS Domain Protein 4 (Npas4). Gene ontology enrichment analysis illustrated that the biological processes “regulation of neuronal synaptic plasticity” and the cellular components “postsynapses” were over-represented upon CD8+ T-cell ablation. Additionally, Kegg pathway analysis showed up-regulated pathways for “calcium signaling”, “long-term potentiation”, “glutamatergic synapse” and “axon guidance”. Therefore, we conclude that CD8+ T-cells infiltrate the aged and AD brain and that brain CD8+ T-cells might directly contribute to neuronal dysfunction in modulating synaptic plasticity. Further analysis will be essential to uncover the exact mechanism of how CD8+ T-cells modulate the neuronal landscape and thereby contribute to AD pathology.

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  • Dysfunctional meninges represent an important contributor to neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases by acting as a checkpoint for T-cell infiltration.

    “Dysfunctional meninges also represent an important contributor to neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases by acting as a checkpoint for T-cell infiltration.”

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Authors
Unger, M. S., Li, E., Scharnagl, L., Poupardin, R., Altendorfer, B., Mrowetz, H., Hutter-Paier, B., Weiger, T. M., Heneka, M. T., Attems, J., & Aigner, L.
Affiliations
  • Paracelsus Medical University (AT)
  • University of Salzburg (AT)
  • University Hospital Bonn (DE)
  • Newcastle University (GB)
Corresponding author
Aigner, L.
Venue
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-10
Volume
89
Pages
67-86
ISSN
0889-1591 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3032539442
Cited by
248
References
124
Citations by year
2026: 34 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 63 · 2023: 62 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 3
FWCI
10.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Brain Behavior and Immunity (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Luxembourg) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • DZNE Pub (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Austrian Science Fund (P 31362-B34, F4413-B23)
  • Seventh Framework Programme (HEALTH-F2-2011-278850)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
Keywords
CD8+ T cells, Alzheimer's disease, APP/PS1 mice, neuroinflammation, hippocampus, synaptic plasticity, neuronal gene expression, Arc, Npas4, immediate early genes, calcium signaling, long-term potentiation, glutamatergic synapses, axon guidance
MeSH terms
Alzheimer Disease, Animals, Brain, Disease Models, Animal, Mice, Transgenic, Synapses, Gene Expression, Amyloid beta-Peptides, Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor, CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Mice, Presenilin-1

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