Lipid metabolism in primary microglia (scRNA-Seq)
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus
PROVIDER: GSE277396 | GEO | 2026/01/13
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Spinal cord injury (SCI) profoundly affects functional capacity and the immune system plays a crucial role in recovery. In this study, we investigated the effects of SCI on macrophages and microglia in mice. We observed that macrophages infiltrated the spinal cord shortly after injury but decreased over time. Microglial phagocytosis of myelin debris is associated with increased lipid accumulation. Deletion of macrophages or microglia had contrasting effects on recovery: macrophage deletion improved outcomes, whereas microglial deletion worsened them. In addition, PPARG promotes lipid metabolism and recovery, and atorvastatin (a PPARG agonist) effectively reverses altered metabolic processes. These findings highlight the complex roles of macrophages and microglia in SCI, and suggest that targeting PPARG and its agonists could be a promising therapeutic approach.
2026-01-13 | GSE276936 | GEO
Project description:The quantitative variations and specific roles of regulatory T cells (Treg cells) within spinal cord injury (SCI) remain elusive. Utilizing single-cell RNA sequencing, flow cytometry, and immunofluorescence, we discovered that Treg cells began to infiltrate the injured spinal cords in mice approximately three days after SCI. Selective depletion of Treg cells resulted in an expansion of the injury area, reduction in neuronal survival, and a decrease in long-term functional recovery post-SCI. Transcriptomic analyses of Treg cells unveiled potent anti-inflammatory functions and the potential to influence neighboring immune cells within the spinal cord after SCI. Adoptive transfer of Treg cells demonstrated measurable improvement in SCI recovery and increased neuronal retention in mice. However, selective depletion of microglia inhibited the neuroprotective effects of Treg cells, indicating that the effect of Treg cells in the spinal cord depends on the presence of microglia. Mechanistically, Treg cells promoted spinal cord functional recovery by upregulating microglial Abcg1 receptor expression, enhancing cholesterol transport, reducing microglial lipid droplet formation, and moderating the M1 phenotype after SCI. In summary, our study elucidates the spatiotemporal distribution of Treg cells after SCI and their unique transcriptomic features, clarifying the impact of Treg cells on microglial cholesterol metabolism and inflammatory phenotype. These findings indicate that Treg cells may serve as a potential target for SCI treatment.
2025-09-29 | GSE243607 | GEO
Project description:Microglia play significant roles in spinal cord injury (SCI) progression. Previous studies have suggested that ferroptosis plays a crucial role in exacerbating neuronal death following SCI; however, the role of microglial ferroptosis in SCI and the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we elucidate that lipid droplets accumulate in microglia to facilitate microglial ferroptosis after SCI. Notably, microglial ferroptosis peaks at 3 days post-injury, after which it decreases. Microglial Period 2 (Per2) expression is elevated after SCI in vivo; this change is highly synchronized with the changes in microglial ferroptosis. Microglia-specific Per2 knockout promoted neurological function recovery by suppressing microglial ferroptosis. In vitro, Per2 overexpression and deficiency amplified and mitigated microglial ferroptosis, respectively. RNA-seq indicated that Gpx4 was downregulated by Per2. Coimmunoprecipitation demonstrated that Per2 directly interacted with PPARα. Overall, our results indicate that Per2 determines the susceptibility of microglial ferroptosis via the PPARα-Gpx4 axis after SCI.
2025-08-20 | GSE303325 | GEO
Project description:Microglia play significant roles in spinal cord injury (SCI) progression. Previous studies have suggested that ferroptosis plays a crucial role in exacerbating neuronal death following SCI; however, the role of microglial ferroptosis in SCI and the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we elucidate that lipid droplets accumulate in microglia to facilitate microglial ferroptosis after SCI. Notably, microglial ferroptosis peaks at 3 days post-injury, after which it decreases. Microglial Period 2 (Per2) expression is elevated after SCI in vivo; this change is highly synchronized with the changes in microglial ferroptosis. Microglia-specific Per2 knockout promoted neurological function recovery by suppressing microglial ferroptosis. In vitro, Per2 overexpression and deficiency amplified and mitigated microglial ferroptosis, respectively. RNA-seq indicated that Gpx4 was downregulated by Per2. Coimmunoprecipitation demonstrated that Per2 directly interacted with PPARα. Overall, our results indicate that Per2 determines the susceptibility of microglial ferroptosis via the PPARα-Gpx4 axis after SCI.
2025-08-20 | GSE303249 | GEO
Project description:<p>Background: After spinal cord injury (SCI), lipid metabolism dysregulation at the lesion site exacerbates secondary damage. The transcription factor pu.1 has been implicated as a negative regulator of multiple lipid metabolism-related genes and pathways. However, its role in post-SCI lipid metabolism remains unclear. </p><p>Methods: We employed a mouse model of complete T10 crush SCI. Non-targeted metabolomics and bioinformatics analysis were utilized to investigate lipid metabolism at the lesion site after SCI. Polarized light imaging was used to evaluate the presence of cholesterol crystals. DB1976, a specific inhibitor of pu.1, was administered to examine its impact on local lipid metabolism after SCI. Immunofluorescence staining was performed to assess pu.1 expression and distribution, and to evaluate lipid droplet formation, astrocytic/fibrotic scar development, inflammatory cell infiltration and tight junctions within the vasculature. </p><p>Results: Non-targeted metabolomics and bioinformatics analyses revealed significant alterations in lipid metabolism components after SCI. Moreover, immunofluorescence staining and polarized light imaging demonstrated substantial BODIPY+ lipid droplet accumulation and persistent cholesterol crystal formation at the lesion site after SCI. Increased pu.1 expression was predominantly observed within macrophages/microglia at the lesion site after SCI. DB1976 treatment significantly mitigated lipid droplet accumulation and cholesterol crystal formation, reduced CD68+ macrophage/microglial infiltration and attenuated fibrotic scar formation. Moreover, DB1976 treatment promoted the expression of claudin-5 and zonula occludens-1 between vascular endothelial cells and enhanced GFAP+ glial connectivity after SCI. </p><p>Conclusions: Our study reveals a significant correlation between lipid metabolism disturbance post-SCI and transcription factor pu.1 upregulation, specifically in macrophages/microglia at the lesion site. Thus, targeted pu.1 modulation has the potential to yield promising results by substantially diminishing the deposition of lipid metabolism byproducts at the lesion site and fostering a milieu conducive to SCI repair.</p>
2024-08-08 | MTBLS10453 | MetaboLights
Project description:Microglia represent critical therapeutic targets in spinal cord injury (SCI), with damage associated microglia (DAM) playing key roles in neuroinflammation and tissue repair.Through integrated in-silico analysis of scRNA-seq and microarray datasets, we identified DAM subsets specific to acute SCI characterized by hub genes Fcer1g, Grn, and Gusb. Using a C57BL/6 mouse spinal cord contusion model, we validated increased DAM accumulation post-injury and demonstrated their propensity to transition toward homeostatic microglia (MG2). Eupatilin treatment promoted DAM-toMG2 differentiation, as confirmed through bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing analyses revealing supportive gene expression changes. These findings establish DAM as functionally distinct microglial populations in acute SCI and identify Eupatilin as a therapeutic agent that facilitates beneficial microglial polarization. This work provides mechanistic insights into microglial dynamics during SCI and suggests targeted modulation of DAM-to-MG2 transitions as a promising therapeutic strategy for promoting inflammation resolution and functional recovery.
2025-08-29 | GSE306745 | GEO
Project description:The inflammatory response after spinal cord injury (SCI) is an important contributor to secondary damage. Infiltrating macrophages can acquire a spectrum of activation states, however, the microenvironment at the SCI site favors macrophage polarization into a pro-inflammatory phenotype, which is one of the reasons why macrophage transplantation has failed. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of the macrophage secretome for SCI recovery. We investigated the effect of the secretome in vitro using peripheral and CNS-derived neurons and human neural stem cells. Moreover, we perform a pre-clinical trial using a SCI compression mice model and analyzed the recovery of motor, sensory and autonomic functions. Instead of transplanting the cells, we injected the paracrine factors and extracellular vesicles that they secrete, avoiding the loss of the phenotype of the transplanted cells due to local environmental cues. We demonstrated that different macrophage phenotypes have a distinct effect on neuronal growth and survival, namely, the alternative activation with IL-10 and TGF-β1 (M(IL-10+TGF-β1)) promotes significant axonal regeneration. We also observed that systemic injection of soluble factors and extracellular vesicles derived from M(IL-10+TGF-β1) macrophages promotes significant functional recovery after compressive SCI and leads to higher survival of spinal cord neurons. Additionally, the M(IL-10+TGF-β1) secretome supported the recovery of bladder function and decreased microglial activation, astrogliosis and fibrotic scar in the spinal cord. Proteomic analysis of the M(IL-10+TGF-β1)-derived secretome identified clusters of proteins involved in axon extension, dendritic spine maintenance, cell polarity establishment, and regulation of astrocytic activation. Overall, our results demonstrated that macrophages-derived soluble factors and extracellular vesicles might be a promising therapy for SCI with possible clinical applications.
2024-02-14 | PXD048453 | Pride
Project description:Rehabilitative training is an effective method to promote recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI), with lower training efficacy observed in the chronic stage. The increased training efficacy during the subacute period is associated with an adaptive state induced by the SCI. A potential link is SCI-induced inflammation, which is elevated in the subacute period, and as injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) alongside training improves recovery in chronic SCI, suggesting LPS could reopen a window of plasticity late after injury. Microglia may play a role in LPS-mediated plasticity as they react to LPS and are implicated in facilitating recovery following SCI. However, it is unknown how microglia change in response to LPS following SCI to promote neuroplasticity. Here we used single-cell RNA sequencing to examine microglial responses in subacute and chronic SCI with and without an LPS injection. We show that subacute SCI is characterized by a disease-associated microglial (DAM) signature, while chronic SCI is highly heterogeneous, with both injury-induced and homeostatic states. With LPS injection, microglia shifted away from the homeostatic signature to a primed, translation-associated state and increased DAM in degenerated tracts caudal to the injury. Our results contribute to an understanding of how microglia and LPS-induced neuroinflammation contribute to plasticity following SCI.
2025-03-01 | GSE281996 | GEO
Project description:Microglia are resident myeloid cells of the central nervous system (CNS). Recently, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) has enabled description of a disease-associated subtype of microglia (DAM) with a role in neurodegeneration and demyelination. In this study we use scRNAseq to investigate the temporal dynamics of immune cells harvested from the epicenter of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). As a consequence of SCI, homeostatic microglia undergo permanent transcriptional re-programming into a subtype of microglia with striking similarities to previoysly reported DAM as well as a distinct microglial state found during development. Using a microglia depletion model we showed that DAM in SCI are derived from homeostatic microglia and strongly enhance recovery of hind limb locomotor function following injury.
2021-12-24 | GSE142849 | GEO
Project description:Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) triggers a neuro-inflammatory response dominated by tissue-resident microglia and monocyte derived macrophages (MDMs). Since activated microglia and MDMs are morphologically identical and express similar phenotypic markers in vivo, identifying injury responses specifically coordinated by microglia has historically been challenging. Here, we pharmacologically depleted microglia and use anatomical, histopathological, tract tracing, bulk and single cell RNA sequencing to reveal the cellular and molecular responses to SCI controlled by microglia. We show that microglia are vital for SCI recovery and coordinate injury responses in CNS-resident glia and infiltrating leukocytes. Depleting microglia exacerbates tissue damage and worsens functional recovery. Conversely, restoring select microglia-dependent signaling axes, identified through sequencing data, in microglia depleted mice prevents secondary damage and promotes recovery. Additional bioinformatics analyses reveal that optimal repair after SCI and likely other forms of neurological disease, might be achieved by co-opting key ligand-receptor interactions between microglia, astrocytes and MDMs.
2022-06-01 | GSE196928 | GEO