Molecular Signature of Neuroinflammation Induced in Cytokine-Stimulated Human Cortical Spheroids

Abstract

Crucial in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases is the process of neuroinflammation that is often linked to the pro-inflammatory cytokines Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and Interleukin-1beta (IL-1β). Human cortical spheroids (hCSs) constitute a valuable tool to study the molecular mechanisms underlying neurological diseases in a complex three-dimensional context. We recently designed a protocol to generate hCSs comprising all major brain cell types. Here we stimulate these hCSs for three time periods with TNFα and with IL-1β. Transcriptomic analysis reveals that the main process induced in the TNFα- as well as in the IL-1β-stimulated hCSs is neuroinflammation. Central in the neuroinflammatory response are endothelial cells, microglia and astrocytes, and dysregulated genes encoding cytokines, chemokines and their receptors, and downstream NFκB- and STAT-pathway components. Furthermore, we observe sets of neuroinflammation-related genes that are specifically modulated in the TNFα-stimulated and in the IL-1β-stimulated hCSs. Together, our results help to molecularly understand human neuroinflammation and thus a key mechanism of neurodegeneration.

Clozapine Suppresses the Gene Expression and the Production of Cytokines and Up-Regulates Cyclooxygenase 2 mRNA in Human Astroglial Cells

“…This activity was examined both in unstimulated cells and in cells stimulated with a cytokine mix, TNFα, IL1-β, IFNγ, as these cytokines are elevated during both infective and sterile inflammation. We investigated the effect of clozapine on TNFα, IL1-β, IL-8 and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) as they are major mediators in inflammation [ 40 , 41 , 42 ].…”