Cited by 607Genetics and Neurodevelopmental DisordersNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration MechanismsNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Wild-type microglia arrest pathology in a mouse model of Rett syndrome

Open access
Derecki, Noël C., Cronk, James C., Lu, Zhenjie, Xu, Eric, Abbott, Stephen B. G., Guyenet, Patrice G., Kipnis, Jonathan·2012·Nature

Abstract

Rett syndrome is an X-linked autism spectrum disorder. The disease is characterized in most cases by mutation of the MECP2 gene, which encodes a methyl-CpG-binding protein. Although MECP2 is expressed in many tissues, the disease is generally attributed to a primary neuronal dysfunction. However, as shown recently, glia, specifically astrocytes, also contribute to Rett pathophysiology. Here we examine the role of another form of glia, microglia, in a murine model of Rett syndrome. Transplantation of wild-type bone marrow into irradiation-conditioned Mecp2-null hosts resulted in engraftment of brain parenchyma by bone-marrow-derived myeloid cells of microglial phenotype, and arrest of disease development. However, when cranial irradiation was blocked by lead shield, and microglial engraftment was prevented, disease was not arrested. Similarly, targeted expression of MECP2 in myeloid cells, driven by Lysm(cre) on an Mecp2-null background, markedly attenuated disease symptoms. Thus, through multiple approaches, wild-type Mecp2-expressing microglia within the context of an Mecp2-null male mouse arrested numerous facets of disease pathology: lifespan was increased, breathing patterns were normalized, apnoeas were reduced, body weight was increased to near that of wild type, and locomotor activity was improved. Mecp2(+/-) females also showed significant improvements as a result of wild-type microglial engraftment. These benefits mediated by wild-type microglia, however, were diminished when phagocytic activity was inhibited pharmacologically by using annexin V to block phosphatydilserine residues on apoptotic targets, thus preventing recognition and engulfment by tissue-resident phagocytes. These results suggest the importance of microglial phagocytic activity in Rett syndrome. Our data implicate microglia as major players in the pathophysiology of this devastating disorder, and suggest that bone marrow transplantation might offer a feasible therapeutic approach for it.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/nature10907

Cites

30 of 30 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Inflammation is a key manifestation of Mecp2 mutation in non-neural cells.

    “Inflammation is a key manifestation of Mecp2 mutation in non-neural cells14.”

    From A suppressor screen in Mecp2 mutant mice implicates cholesterol metabolism in Rett syndrome (2013) · cites this paper as [14]

    In the indexed passage labeled Abstract (page not supplied), the paper reports that Mecp2-null microglia have impaired responses to immunological stimuli and reduced phagocytic capacity. This supports altered immune-cell function, but the paper does not identify inflammation as a key manifestation of Mecp2 mutation in non-neural cells. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Transplantation of wild-type bone marrow to introduce microglial cells into the Mecp2 knockout mouse model of Rett syndrome resulted in increased lifespan, normalization of breathing patterns, reduction of apnea, normalization of body weight and improved locomotor activity.

    “Recently, Derecki et al. 47 used transplantation of wild-type bone marrow to introduce microglial cells into the Mecp2 knockout mouse model of Rett syndrome. This resulted in increased lifespan, normalization of breathing patterns, reduction of apnea, normalization of body weight and improved locomotor activity in these mice 47 .”

    From Progress toward treatments for synaptic defects in autism (2013) · cites this paper as [47]

  • Based on animal work, trials that aim to rebuild immune cells in people with ASD have begun.

    “clinical trials using strategies to reconstitute immune cells in individuals with ASD have been initiated233,234.”
  • Microglia have been identified as cells capable of restoring neural function in the ASD-model MECP2 knockout mice.

    “Recently, microglia have been identified as cells capable of restoring neural function in the ASD-model MECP2 knockout mice37.”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Derecki, N. C., Cronk, J. C., Lu, Z., Xu, E., Abbott, S. B. G., Guyenet, P. G., & Kipnis, J.
Affiliations
University of Virginia (US)
Corresponding author
Kipnis, Jonathan
Venue
Nature
Published
2012-03-18
Volume
484
Issue
7392
Pages
105-109
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2020407498
Cited by
607
References
30
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 44 · 2016: 55 · 2015: 65 · 2014: 73 · 2013: 77 · 2012: 47
FWCI
50.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Hartwell Foundation
  • National Institute on Aging (AG034113, R01AG034113, R37AG034113)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS081026)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R21HD056293, HD056293)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
Keywords
Rett syndrome, MeCP2, microglia, bone marrow transplantation, lifespan extension, breathing abnormalities, locomotor activity, insulin-like growth factor I, myeloid cells, cranial irradiation, mouse model
MeSH terms
Animals, Body Weight, Brain, Disease Models, Animal, Female, Insulin-Like Growth Factor I, Locomotion, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Phagocytosis, Phosphatidylserines, Respiration, Rett Syndrome, Bone Marrow Transplantation, Apoptosis, Annexin A5, Microglia, Disease Progression, Rotarod Performance Test, Mice, Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review