Replacement of microglia in the aged brain reverses cognitive, synaptic, and neuronal deficits in mice.

ABSTRACT: Microglia, the resident immune cell of the brain, can be eliminated via pharmacological inhibition of the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R). Withdrawal of CSF1R inhibition then stimulates microglial repopulation, effectively replacing the microglial compartment. In the aged brain, microglia take on a "primed" phenotype and studies indicate that this coincides with age-related cognitive decline. Here, we investigated the effects of replacing the aged microglial compartment with new microglia using CSF1R inhibitor-induced microglial repopulation. With 28 days of repopulation, replacement of resident microglia in aged mice (24 months) improved spatial memory and restored physical microglial tissue characteristics (cell densities and morphologies) to those found in young adult anima

SUBMITTER: Elmore MRP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6260908 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature