Over the past two decades, it has become increasingly apparent that Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology is characterized by activated microglia (brain resident macrophages) as well as the classic features of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The intricacy of microglial biology has also become apparent, leading to a heightened research interest in this particular cell type. Over the years a number of different microglial cell culturing techniques have been developed to study either primary mammalian microglia, or immortalized cell lines. Each microglial system has advantages and disadvantages and should be selected for its appropriateness in a particular research context. This review summarizes several of the most common microglial cell culture systems currently being employed in Alzheimer’s research including primary microglia; BV2 and N9 retroviral immortalized microglia; human immortalized microglia (HMO6); and spontaneously immortalized rodent microglial lines (EOC lines and HAPI cells). Particularities of cell culture requirements and characteristics of microglial behavior, especially in response to applied inflammogen stimuli, are compared and discussed across these cell types.

l-dopa is a precursor for dopamine synthesis and a mainstay treatment for Parkinson's disease. However, l-dopa therapy is not without side effects that may be attributed to non-dopaminergic mechanisms. Synthesized dopamine can be neurotoxic through its enzymatic degradation by monoamine oxidase (MAO) to form the reactive byproduct, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals or through auto-oxidation to form highly reactive quinones that can bind proteins and render them non-functional. Since l-dopa could be decarboxylated by aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) present within both dopamine and serotonin neurons, it was hypothesized that serotonin neurons convert l-dopa into dopamine to generate excessive reactive oxygen species and quinoproteins that ultimately lead to serotonin neuron death. To examine the effects of l-dopa on serotonin neurons, the RN46A-B14 cell line was used. These immortalized serotonergic cell cultures were terminally differentiated and then incubated with varying concentrations of l-dopa. Results show that RN46A-B14 cells contain AADC and can synthesize dopamine after incubation with l-dopa. Furthermore, l-dopa dose-dependently increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell death. Dopamine, ROS production and cell death were attenuated by co-incubation with the AADC inhibitor, NSD-1015. The MAO inhibitor, pargyline, also attenuated cell death and ROS after l-dopa treatment. Lastly, quinoprotein formation was enhanced significantly by incubation with l-dopa. Taken together, these data illustrate that serotonergic cells can produce dopamine and that the accumulation of dopamine after l-dopa and its subsequent degradation can lead to ROS production and death of RN46A-B14 serotonergic cells.

Mutations in the gene are responsible for the neurodevelopmental disorder Rett syndrome (RTT). MeCP2 is a DNA-binding protein whose abundance and ability to complex with histone deacetylase 3 is linked to the regulation of chromatin structure. Consequently, loss-of-function mutations in MeCP2 are predicted to have broad effects on gene expression. However, to date, studies in mouse models of RTT have identified a limited number of gene or pathway-level disruptions, and even fewer genes have been identified that could be considered amenable to classic drug discovery approaches. Here, we performed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) on nine motor cortex and six cerebellar autopsy samples from RTT patients and controls. This approach identified 1887 significantly affected genes in the motor cortex and 2110 genes in the cerebellum, with a global trend toward increased expression. Pathway-level analysis identified enrichment in genes associated with mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling, long-term potentiation, and axon guidance. A survey of our RNA-seq results also identified a significant decrease in expression of the gene, which encodes a receptor [muscarinic acetylcholine receptor 4 (M)] that is the subject of multiple large drug discovery efforts for schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. We confirmed that expression was decreased in RTT patients, and, excitingly, we demonstrated that M potentiation normalizes social and cognitive phenotypes in mice. This work provides an experimental paradigm in which translationally relevant targets can be identified using transcriptomics in RTT autopsy samples, back-modeled in mice, and assessed for preclinical efficacy using existing pharmacological tool compounds.

Stress can precipitate or worsen symptoms of many psychiatric illnesses. Dysregulation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) glutamate system may underlie these disruptions and restoring PFC glutamate signaling has emerged as a promising avenue for the treatment of stress disorders. Recently, we demonstrated that activation of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 3 (mGlu3) induces a postsynaptic form of long-term depression (LTD) that is dependent on the activity of another subtype, mGlu5. Stress exposure disrupted this plasticity, but the underlying signaling mechanisms and involvement in higher-order cognition have not yet been investigated. Acute stress was applied by 20-minutes restraint and early reversal learning was evaluated in an operant-based food-seeking task. We employed whole-cell patch-clamp recordings of layer 5 prelimbic (PL)-PFC pyramidal cells to examine mGlu3-LTD and several mechanistically distinct mGlu5-dependent functions. Acute stress impaired both mGlu3-LTD and early reversal learning. Interestingly, potentiating mGlu5 signaling with the mGlu5 positive allosteric modulator (PAM) VU0409551 rescued stress-induced deficits in both mGlu3-LTD and reversal learning. Other aspects of PL-PFC mGlu5 function were not disrupted following stress; however, signaling downstream of mGlu5-Homer interactions, phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K), Akt, and glycogen synthase kinase 3β was implicated in these phenomena. These findings demonstrate that acute stress disrupts early reversal learning and PL-PFC-dependent synaptic plasticity and that potentiating mGlu5 function can restore these impairments. These findings provide a framework through which modulating coordinated mGlu3/mGlu5 signaling may confer benefits for the treatment of stress-related psychiatric disorders.