In vivo uptake of β-amyloid by non-plaque associated microglia

Hawkes, Cheryl A.; Deng, LeHua; Fenili, Daniela; Nitz, Mark and McLaurin, JoAnne (2012). In vivo uptake of β-amyloid by non-plaque associated microglia. Current Alzheimer Research, 9(8) pp. 890–901.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2174/156720512803251084

Abstract

The role of microglia in β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition or clearance in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain remains unclear. Previous in vivo studies have focused primarily on the association of microglia with Aβ-positive parenchymal plaques, but have given little consideration to the possible interaction between Aβ and non-plaque associated microglia. Further, it is not known if microglia play a direct role in mediating Aβ uptake following anti-aggregant treatment. We report here the identification of Aβ-positive processes throughout the cortex and hippocampus of TgCRND8 mice expressing the human Swedish (KM670/671NL) and Indiana (V717F) amyloid precursor protein mutations, which localized to ionized calcium binding protein-1-positive resident microglia that were not associated with extracellular plaques. Oral administration of 1-deoxy-1-fluoro-scyllo-inositol, a scyllo-inositol analogue, to TgCRND8 mice improved spatial memory impairments and suppressed amyloid pathology in a dose-dependent manner. Further, treatment with 1-deoxy-1- fluoro-scyllo-inositol significantly increased hippocampal intra-microglial Aβ levels without stimulating microglial proliferation or peripheral macrophage recruitment. These results reveal a novel, beneficial role for non-plaque associated microglia in the regulation of cerebral Aβ levels in a mouse model of AD.

Viewing alternatives

Metrics

Item Actions

Export

You can export this page using these formats Digital Object Identifier - DOI