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C5aR1 antagonism suppresses inflammatory glial gene expression and alters cellular signaling in an aggressive Alzheimer's model.

ABSTRACT: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia in older adults, and the need for effective, sustainable therapeutic targets is imperative. Pharmacologic inhibition of C5aR1 reduces plaque load, gliosis and memory deficits in animal models. However, the cellular basis underlying this neuroprotection and which processes were the consequence of amyloid reduction vs alteration of the response to amyloid were unclear. In the Arctic model, the C5aR1 antagonist PMX205 did not reduce plaque load, but deficits in short-term memory in female mice were prevented. Hippocampal single cell and single nucleus RNA-seq clusters revealed C5aR1 dependent and independent gene expression and cell-cell communication. Microglial clusters containing neurotoxic disease-associated microglial genes were robustly upregulated in Arctic mice and drastically reduced with PMX205 treatment, while genes in microglia clusters that were overrepresented in the Arctic-PMX205 vs Arctic group were associated with synapse organization and transmission and learning. PMX205 treatment also reduced some A-1 astrocyte genes. In spite of changes in transcript levels, overall protein levels of some reactive glial markers were relatively unchanged by C5aR1 antagonism, as were clusters associated with protective responses to injury. C5aR1 inhibition promoted signaling pathways associated with cell growth and repair, such as TGFβ and FGF, in Arctic mice, while suppressing inflammatory pathways including PROS, Pecam1, and EPHA. In conclusion, pharmacologic C5aR1 inhibition prevents cognitive loss, limits microglial polarization to a detrimental inflammatory state and permits neuroprotective responses, as well as leaving protective functions of complement intact, making C5aR1 antagonism an attractive therapeutic strategy for individuals with AD.

SUBMITTER: Schartz ND

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10473603 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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C5aR1 antagonism suppresses inflammatory glial gene expression and alters cellular signaling in an aggressive Alzheimer's model.

Schartz Nicole D ND Liang Heidi Y HY Carvalho Klebea K Chu Shu-Hui SH Mendoza-Arvilla Adrian A Petrisko Tiffany J TJ Gomez-Arboledas Angela A Mortazavi Ali A Tenner Andrea J AJ

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 20230822

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia in older adults, and the need for effective, sustainable therapeutic targets is imperative. Pharmacologic inhibition of C5aR1 reduces plaque load, gliosis and memory deficits in animal models. However, the cellular basis underlying this neuroprotection and which processes were the consequence of amyloid reduction vs alteration of the response to amyloid were unclear. In the Arctic model, the C5aR1 antagonist PMX205 did not reduce plaque l ...[more]

PMID: 37662399

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Project description:BackgroundPharmacologic inhibition of C5aR1, a receptor for the complement activation proinflammatory fragment, C5a, suppressed pathology and cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease (AD) mouse models. To validate that the effect of the antagonist was specifically via C5aR1 inhibition, mice lacking C5aR1 were generated and compared in behavior and pathology. In addition, since C5aR1 is primarily expressed on cells of the myeloid lineage, and only to a lesser extent on endothelial cells and neurons in brain, gene expression in microglia isolated from adult brain at multiple ages was compared across all genotypes.MethodsC5aR1 knock out mice were crossed to the Arctic AD mouse model, and characterized for pathology and for behavior performance in a hippocampal dependent memory task. CX3CR1GFP and CCR2RFP reporter mice were bred to C5aR1 sufficient and knockout wild type and Arctic mice to enable sorting of microglia (GFP-positive, RFP-negative) isolated from adult brain at 2, 5, 7 and 10 months of age followed by RNA-seq analysis.ResultsA lack of C5aR1 prevented behavior deficits at 10 months, although amyloid plaque load was not altered. Immunohistochemical analysis showed no CCR2+ monocytes/macrophages near the plaques in the Arctic brain with or without C5aR1. Microglia were sorted from infiltrating monocytes (GFP and RFP-positive) for transcriptome analysis. RNA-seq analysis identified inflammation related genes as differentially expressed, with increased expression in the Arctic mice relative to wild type and decreased expression in the Arctic/C5aR1KO relative to Arctic. In addition, phagosomal-lysosomal gene expression was increased in the Arctic mice relative to wild type but further increased in the Arctic/C5aR1KO mice. A decrease in neuronal complexity was seen in hippocampus of 10 month old Arctic mice at the time that correlates with the behavior deficit, both of which were rescued in the Arctic/C5aR1KO.ConclusionsThese data are consistent with microglial polarization in the absence of C5aR1 signaling reflecting decreased induction of inflammatory genes and enhancement of degradation/clearance pathways, which is accompanied by preservation of CA1 neuronal complexity and hippocampal dependent cognitive function. These results provide links between microglial responses and loss of cognitive performance and, combined with the previous pharmacological approach to inhibit C5aR1 signaling, support the potential of this receptor as a novel therapeutic target for AD in humans.

Project description:BackgroundThe complement system is part of the innate immune system that clears pathogens and cellular debris. In the healthy brain, complement influences neurodevelopment and neurogenesis, synaptic pruning, clearance of neuronal blebs, recruitment of phagocytes, and protects from pathogens. However, excessive downstream complement activation that leads to generation of C5a, and C5a engagement with its receptor C5aR1, instigates a feed-forward loop of inflammation, injury, and neuronal death, making C5aR1 a potential therapeutic target for neuroinflammatory disorders. C5aR1 ablation in the Arctic (Arc) model of Alzheimer's disease protects against cognitive decline and neuronal injury without altering amyloid plaque accumulation.MethodsTo elucidate the effects of C5a-C5aR1 signaling on AD pathology, we crossed Arc mice with a C5a-overexpressing mouse (ArcC5a+) and tested hippocampal memory. RNA-seq was performed on hippocampus and cortex from Arc, ArcC5aR1KO, and ArcC5a+ mice at 2.7-10 months and age-matched controls to assess mechanisms involved in each system. Immunohistochemistry was used to probe for protein markers of microglia and astrocytes activation states.ResultsArcC5a+ mice had accelerated cognitive decline compared to Arc. Deletion of C5ar1 delayed or prevented the expression of some, but not all, AD-associated genes in the hippocampus and a subset of pan-reactive and A1 reactive astrocyte genes, indicating a separation between genes induced by amyloid plaques alone and those influenced by C5a-C5aR1 signaling. Biological processes associated with AD and AD mouse models, including inflammatory signaling, microglial cell activation, and astrocyte migration, were delayed in the ArcC5aR1KO hippocampus. Interestingly, C5a overexpression also delayed the increase of some AD-, complement-, and astrocyte-associated genes, suggesting the possible involvement of neuroprotective C5aR2. However, these pathways were enhanced in older ArcC5a+ mice compared to Arc. Immunohistochemistry confirmed that C5a-C5aR1 modulation in Arc mice delayed the increase in CD11c-positive microglia, while not affecting other pan-reactive microglial or astrocyte markers.ConclusionC5a-C5aR1 signaling in AD largely exerts its effects by enhancing microglial activation pathways that accelerate disease progression. While C5a may have neuroprotective effects via C5aR2, engagement of C5a with C5aR1 is detrimental in AD models. These data support specific pharmacological inhibition of C5aR1 as a potential therapeutic strategy to treat AD.

Project description:The complement system is part of the innate immune system that works to clear pathogens and cellular debris. In the central nervous system (CNS) complement activation can promote synaptic pruning clearance of neuronal blebs recruitment of phagocytes and protection from pathogens. However in a neuropathologic environment complement activation may contribute to inflammatory pathways neuronal dysfunction and in the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain cognitive decline. If complement activation proceeds to the cleavage of C5 and thus generation of C5a engagement of C5a with the receptor C5aR1 can instigate a feed-forward loop of inflammation injury and neuronal death thus making this molecule a potential target for modulation in AD therapeutics. The Arctic (Arc) AD mouse model known to rapidly accumulate fibrillar amyloid plaques was crossed to a model that lacks the receptor for C5a (ArcC5aR1KO) or to a transgenic mouse that generates C5a under the GFAP promoter (ArcC5a+). ArcticC5a+ mice showed accelerated loss of spatial memory compared to Arc mice. While eliminating C5aR1 did not alter amyloid plaque accumulation in this AD model C5aR1KO delayed or prevented the expression of important AD-associated genes in the hippocampus indicating a separation between those genes induced by amyloid plaques and those influenced by C5a-C5aR1 signaling. C5ar1 deletion also reduced/delayed the expression of select pan-reactive and A1 reactive astrocyte genes. ArcC5aR1KO showed delayed expression of genes enriched for biological processes that are significant in the AD context such as regulation of inflammatory signaling microglial cell activation astrocyte migration and lysosome pathway. Interestingly overexpression of C5a also delayed the increase of some AD- complement and astrocyte-associated genes perhaps mediated by C5aR2 and emphasizing the importance of selectively suppressing C5aR1. Immunohistochemical investigation further confirmed that modulation of C5a-C5aR1 either delayed or reduced some reactive microglial markers in the Arc hippocampus including CD11b and CD11c. These results suggest that C5a-C5aR1 signaling in the context of AD largely exerts its effects by suppressing those microglial activation pathways that accelerate disease enhancing pathways. Given the highly focused modulation of a common driver of neurotoxicity pharmacological inhibition of this C5aR1 signaling pathway is a promising therapeutic strategy to treat AD.

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C5aR1 antagonism suppresses inflammatory glial gene expression and alters cellular signaling in an aggressive Alzheimer's model.

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C5aR1 antagonism suppresses inflammatory glial gene expression and alters cellular signaling in an aggressive Alzheimer's model.

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