Microglia, the resident macrophages of the central nervous system, rapidly activate in nearly all kinds of neurological diseases. These activated microglia become highly motile, secreting inflammatory cytokines, migrating to the lesion area, and phagocytosing cell debris or damaged neurons. During the past decades, the secretory property and chemotaxis of microglia have been well-studied, while relatively less attention has been paid to microglial phagocytosis. So far there is no obvious concordance with whether it is beneficial or detrimental in tissue repair. This review focuses on phagocytic phenotype of microglia in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, ischemic and other brain diseases. Microglial morphological characteristics, involved receptors and signaling pathways, distribution variation along with time and space changes, and environmental factors that affecting phagocytic function in each disease are reviewed. Moreover, a comparison of contributions between macrophages from peripheral circulation and the resident microglia to these pathogenic processes will also be discussed.

Hypertension is one of the major predisposing factors for neurodegenerative disease characterized with activated renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in both periphery and brain. Vitamin D (VitD) is recently recognized as a pleiotropic hormone with strong neuroprotective properties. While multiple lines of evidence suggest that VitD can act on RAS, the evidence concerning the crosstalk between VitD and RAS in the brain is limited. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate whether VitD can modulate brain RAS to trigger neuroprotective actions in the brain of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Our data showed that calcitriol treatment induced VDR expression and inhibited neural death in the prefrontal cortex of SHR. Sustained calcitriol administration also inhibited microglia M1 polarization, but enhanced M2 polarization, accompanied with decreased expression of proinflammatory cytokines. We then further explored the potential mechanisms and showed that SHR exhibited overactivated classical RAS with increased expression of angiotensin II (Ang II) receptor type 1 (AT1), angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and Ang II production, whereas the counteracting arm of traditional RAS, ACE2/Ang(1–7)/MasR, was impaired in the SHR brain. Calcitriol nonsignificantly suppressed AT1 and ACE but markedly reduced Ang II formation. Intriguingly, calcitriol exerted pronouncedly impact on ACE2/Ang(1–7)/MasR axis with enhanced expression of ACE2, MasR and Ang(1–7) generation. Meanwhile, calcitriol ameliorated the overactivation of NADPH-oxidase (Nox), the downstream of RAS, in SHR, and also mitigated oxidative stress. In microglial (BV2) cells, we further found that calcitriol induced ACE2 and MasR with no significant impact on ACE and AT1. In accordance, calcitriol also attenuated Ang II-induced Nox activation and ROS production, and shifted the microglia polarization from M1 to M2 phenotype. However, co-treatment with A779, a specific MasR antagonist, abrogated the antioxidant and neuroimmune modulating actions of VitD. These findings strongly indicate the involvement of ACE2/Ang(1–7)/MasR pathway in the neuroprotective mechanisms of VitD in the hypertensive brain.

Neuroinflammation is initiated in response to ischemic stroke, generally with the hallmarks of microglial activation and collateral brain injury contributed by robust inflammatory effects. Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM)-1, an amplifier of the innate immune response, is a critical regulator of inflammation. This study identified that microglial TREM-1 expression was upregulated following cerebral ischemic injury. After pharmacologic inhibition of TREM-1 with synthetic peptide LP17, ischemia-induced infarction and neuronal injury were substantially alleviated. Moreover, blockade of TREM-1 can potentiate cellular proliferation and synaptic plasticity in hippocampus, resulting in long-term functional improvement. Microglial M1 polarization and neutrophil recruitment were remarkably abrogated as mRNA levels of M1 markers, chemokines, and protein levels of myeloperoxidase and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) were decreased by LP17. Mechanistically, both in vivo and in vitro, we delineated that TREM-1 can activate downstream pro-inflammatory pathways, CARD9/NF-κB, and NLRP3/caspase-1, through interacting with spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK). In addition, TREM-1-induced SYK initiation was responsible for microglial pyroptosis by elevating levels of gasdermin D (GSDMD), N-terminal fragment of GSDMD (GSDMD-N), and forming GSDMD pores, which can facilitate the release of intracellular inflammatory factors, in microglia. In summary, microglial TREM-1 receptor yielded post-stroke neuroinflammatory damage via associating with SYK.

No abstract

Development of vertebrate embryos involves tightly regulated molecular and cellular processes that progressively instruct proliferating embryonic cells about their identity and behavior. Whereas numerous gene activities have been found to be essential during early embryogenesis, little is known about the minimal conditions and factors that would be sufficient to instruct pluripotent cells to organize the embryo. Here, we show that opposing gradients of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and Nodal, two transforming growth factor family members that act as morphogens, are sufficient to induce molecular and cellular mechanisms required to organize, in vivo or in vitro, uncommitted cells of the zebrafish blastula animal pole into a well-developed embryo.

Previous findings suggested that a four-protein complex, including sterol-regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP), SREBP-cleavage-activating protein (SCAP), insulin-induced gene (INSIG) and progesterone receptor membrane component 1 (PGRMC1), within the endoplasmic reticulum appears to be an important regulator responsible for atypical antipsychotic drug (AAPD)-induced lipid disturbances. In the present study, effects of typical antipsychotic drug and AAPDs as well as treatment outcome of steroid antagonist mifepristone (MIF) on the PGRMC1/INSIG/SCAP/SREBP pathway were investigated in rat liver using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and western blot analysis. In addition, serum triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, free fatty acids and various hormones including progesterone, corticosterone and insulin were measured simultaneously. Following treatment with clozapine or risperidone, both lipogenesis and cholesterogenesis were enhanced via inhibition of PGRMC1/INSIG-2 and activation of SCAP/SREBP expressions. Such metabolic disturbances, however, were not demonstrated in rats treated with aripiprazole (ARI) or haloperidol (HAL). Moreover, the add-on treatment of MIF was effective in reversing the AAPD-induced lipid disturbances by upregulating the expression of PGRMC1/INSIG-2 and subsequent downregulation of SCAP/SREBP. Taken together, our findings suggest that disturbances in lipid metabolism can occur at an early stage of AAPD treatment before the presence of weight gain. Such metabolic defects can be modified by an add-on treatment of steroid antagonist MIF enhancing the PGRMC1 pathway. Thus, it is likely that PGRMC1/INSIG-2 signaling may be a therapeutic target for AAPD-induced weight gain.

Although post-ischemic inflammation induced by the innate immune response is considered an essential step in the progression of cerebral ischemia injury, the role of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke remains to be elucidated. Here, we found that the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels of TREM2 were increased in cultured primary microglia after oxygen-glucose deprivation and reoxygenation and in the ischemic penumbra of the cerebral cortex after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and reperfusion in mice. TREM2 was mainly expressed in microglia, but not in astrocytes, neurons, or oligodendrocytes in mice subjected to MCAO. Manipulating TREM2 expression levels in vitro and in vivo significantly regulated the production of pro-and anti-inflammatory mediators after ischemic stroke. TREM2 overexpression markedly suppressed the inflammatory response and neuronal apoptosis. By contrast, TREM2 gene silencing intensified the inflammatory response, increased neuronal apoptosis and infarct volume, and further exacerbated neurological dysfunction. Our study demonstrated that TREM2 protects against cerebral ischemia/ reperfusion injury through the aspect of post-ischemic inflammatory response and neuronal apoptosis. Pharmacological targeting of TREM2 to suppress the inflammatory response may provide a new approach for developing therapeutic strategies in the treatment of ischemic stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases.

Congenital and progressive hearing impairment is a common distressing disease. The progressive dominant hearing loss DFNA28 in human is associated with a frameshift mutation of Grainyhead-like 2 (GRHL2) but its etiology and mechanism remain unknown. Here we report a zebrafish grhl2b(T086) mutant line in which grhl2b expression is interrupted by an insertion of a Tol2 transposon element. The mutants exhibit enlarged otocysts, smaller or eliminated otoliths, malformed semicircular canals, insensitiveness to sound stimulation and imbalanced swimming motion. Since grainyhead-like family members can regulate epithelial adhesion, we examined the expression of some genes encoding junction proteins in mutants. We show that the expression of claudin b (cldnb) and epcam is abolished or dramatically reduced and apical junctional complexes are abnormal in otic epithelial cells of mutant embryos. Co-injection of cldnb and epcam mRNA could largely rescue the mutant phenotype. Injection of human wild-type GRHL2 mRNA but not the mutant GRHL2 mRNA derived from DFNA28 patients into grhl2b(T086) mutant embryos could rescue the inner-ear defects. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Grhl2b directly binds to the enhancers and promotes the expression of cldnb and epcam. Thus, this work reveals an evolutionarily conserved function of Grhl2 in otic development and provides a fish model for further studying mechanisms of Grhl2-related hearing loss.