Cited by 176Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration MechanismsAlzheimer's disease research and treatmentsPhagocytosis and Immune Regulation

Young microglia restore amyloid plaque clearance of aged microglia

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Daria, Anna, Colombo, Alessio, Llovera, Gemma, Hampel, Heike, Willem, Michael, Liesz, Arthur, Haass, Christian, Tahirovic, Sabina·2017·The EMBO Journal

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by deposition of amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and neuroinflammation. In order to study microglial contribution to amyloid plaque phagocytosis, we developed a novel ex vivo model by co-culturing organotypic brain slices from up to 20-month-old, amyloid-bearing AD mouse model (APPPS1) and young, neonatal wild-type (WT) mice. Surprisingly, co-culturing resulted in proliferation, recruitment, and clustering of old microglial cells around amyloid plaques and clearance of the plaque halo. Depletion of either old or young microglial cells prevented amyloid plaque clearance, indicating a synergistic effect of both populations. Exposing old microglial cells to conditioned media of young microglia or addition of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) was sufficient to induce microglial proliferation and reduce amyloid plaque size. Our data suggest that microglial dysfunction in AD may be reversible and their phagocytic ability can be modulated to limit amyloid accumulation. This novel ex vivo model provides a valuable system for identification, screening, and testing of compounds aimed to therapeutically reinforce microglial phagocytosis.

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  • Activation of microglial cells by inflammatory molecules has been shown to enhance Aβ clearance by microglia.

    “Strikingly, activation of microglial cells by inflammatory molecules has been shown to enhance Aβ clearance by microglia [3, 26, 27].”
  • Young microglia can restore defects in Aβ clearance in aged microglia, where aged microglia exposed to conditioned media from young microglia or GM-CSF treatment reduce amyloid plaque size in a mouse model ex vivo.

    “Other studies have also shown that young microglia can restore defects in Aβ clearance in aged microglia, where aged microglia exposed to conditioned media from young microglia, or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor treatment could reduce amyloid plaque size in a mouse model ex vivo [524].”

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  1. Naj AC, Jun G, Beecham GW, Wang LS, Vardarajan BN, Buros J, Gallins PJ, Buxbaum JD, Jarvik GP, Crane PK, Larson EB, Bird TD, Boeve BF, Graff- ª 2016 The Authors The EMBO Journal Vol 36 | No 5 | 2017

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Authors
Daria, A., Colombo, A., Llovera, G., Hampel, H., Willem, M., Liesz, A., Haass, C., & Tahirovic, S.
Affiliations
  • Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
  • German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DE)
  • Institut für Schlaganfall- und Demenzforschung (DE)
  • Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (DE)
Corresponding author
Haass, Christian
Venue
The EMBO Journal
Published
2016-12-21
Volume
36
Issue
5
Pages
583-603
ISSN
  • 0261-4189 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2075
OpenAlex
W2565129117
Cited by
174
References
139
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 14
FWCI
8.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The EMBO Journal (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DZNE Pub (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • European Research Council (321366)
  • Excellence Cluster for Systems Neurology
  • DFG (LI2534/1‐1)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Phagocytosis and Immune Regulation
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, microglia, amyloid plaque clearance, microglial phagocytosis, APP/PS1 mice, organotypic brain slices, co-culture model, GM-CSF, microglial proliferation, neuroinflammation, ex vivo model
MeSH terms
Alzheimer Disease, Animals, Brain, Disease Models, Animal, Organ Culture Techniques, Culture Media, Conditioned, Microglia, Coculture Techniques, Cell Proliferation, Mice, Plaque, Amyloid

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