Dorothy P. Schafer

Microglia sculpt postnatal neural circuits in an activity and complement-dependent manner

Microglia are the resident CNS immune cells and active surveyors of the extracellular environment. While past work has focused on the role of these cells during disease, recent imaging studies reveal dynamic interactions between microglia and synaptic elements in the healthy brain. Despite these intriguing observations, the precise function of microglia at remodeling synapses and the mechanisms that underlie microglia-synapse interactions remain elusive. In the current study, we demonstrate a role for microglia in activity-dependent synaptic pruning in the postnatal retinogeniculate system. We show that microglia engulf presynaptic inputs during peak retinogeniculate pruning and that engulfment is dependent upon neural activity and the microglia-specific phagocytic signaling pathway, complement receptor 3(CR3)/C3. Furthermore, disrupting microglia-specific CR3/C3 signaling resulted in sustained deficits in synaptic connectivity. These results define a role for microglia during postnatal development and identify underlying mechanisms by which microglia engulf and remodel developing synapses.

The "quad-partite" synapse: microglia-synapse interactions in the developing and mature CNS.

Microglia are the resident immune cells and phagocytes of our central nervous system (CNS). While most work has focused on the rapid and robust responses of microglia during CNS disease and injury, emerging evidence suggests that these mysterious cells have important roles at CNS synapses in the healthy, intact CNS. Groundbreaking live imaging studies in the anesthetized, adult mouse demonstrated that microglia processes dynamically survey their environment and interact with other brain cells including neurons and astrocytes. More recent imaging studies have revealed that microglia dynamically interact with synapses where they appear to serve as “synaptic sensors,” responding to changes in neural activity and neurotransmitter release. In the following review, we discuss the most recent work demonstrating that microglia play active roles at developing and mature synapses. We first discuss the important imaging studies that have led us to better understand the physical relationship between microglia and synapses in the healthy brain. Following this discussion, we review known molecular mechanisms and functional consequences of microglia‐synapse interactions in the developing and mature CNS. Our current knowledge sheds new light on the critical functions of these mysterious cells in synapse development and function in the healthy CNS, but has also incited several new and interesting questions that remain to be explored. We discuss these open questions, and how the most recent findings in the healthy CNS may be related to pathologies associated with abnormal and/or loss of neural circuits.

TTC, fluoro-Jade B and NeuN staining confirm evolving phases of infarction induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion.

Considerable debate exists in the literature on how best to measure infarct damage and at what point after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) infarct is histologically complete. As many researchers are focusing on more chronic endpoints in neuroprotection studies it is important to evaluate histological damage at later time points to ensure that standard methods of tissue injury measurement are accurate. To compare tissue viability at both acute and sub-acute time points, we used 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC), Fluoro-Jade B, and NeuN staining to examine the evolving phases of infarction induced by a 90-min MCAO in mice. Stroke outcomes were examined at 1.5h, 6h, 12h, 24h, 3d, and 7d after MCAO. There was a time-dependent increase in infarct volume from 1.5h to 24h in the cortex, followed by a plateau from 24h to 7d after stroke. Striatal infarcts were complete by 12h. Fluoro-Jade B staining peaked at 24h and was minimal by 7d. Our results indicated that histological damage as measured by TTC and Fluoro-Jade B reaches its peak by 24h after stroke in a reperfusion model of MCAO in mice. TTC staining can be accurately performed as late as 7d after stroke. Neurological deficits do not correlate with the structural lesion but rather transient impairment of function. As the infarct is complete by 24h and even earlier in the striatum, even the most efficacious neuroprotective therapies are unlikely to show any efficacy if given after this point.

Disruption of the Axon Initial Segment Cytoskeleton Is a New Mechanism for Neuronal Injury

Many factors contribute to nervous system dysfunction and failure to regenerate after injury or disease. Here, we describe a previously unrecognized mechanism for nervous system injury. We show that neuronal injury causes rapid, irreversible, and preferential proteolysis of the axon initial segment (AIS) cytoskeleton independently of cell death or axon degeneration, leading to loss of both ion channel clusters and neuronal polarity. Furthermore, we show this is caused by proteolysis of the AIS cytoskeletal proteins ankyrinG and βIV spectrin by the calcium-dependent cysteine protease calpain. Importantly, calpain inhibition is sufficient to preserve the molecular organization of the AIS both in vitro and in vivo. We conclude that loss of AIS ion channel clusters and neuronal polarity are important contributors to neuronal dysfunction after injury, and that strategies to facilitate recovery must preserve or repair the AIS cytoskeleton.

Spectrins and AnkyrinB Constitute a Specialized Paranodal Cytoskeleton

Paranodal junctions of myelinated nerve fibers are important for saltatory conduction and function as paracellular and membrane protein diffusion barriers flanking nodes of Ranvier. The formation of these specialized axoglial contacts depends on the presence of three cell adhesion molecules: neurofascin 155 on the glial membrane and a complex of Caspr and contactin on the axon. We isolated axonal and glial membranes highly enriched in these paranodal proteins and then used mass spectrometry to identify additional proteins associated with the paranodal axoglial junction. This strategy led to the identification of three novel components of the paranodal cytoskeleton: ankyrinB, αII spectrin, and βII spectrin. Biochemical and immunohistochemical analyses revealed that these proteins associate with protein 4.1B in a macromolecular complex that is concentrated at central and peripheral paranodal junctions in the adult and during early myelination. Furthermore, we show that the paranodal localization of ankyrinB is disrupted in Caspr-null mice with aberrant paranodal junctions, demonstrating that paranodal neuron–glia interactions regulate the organization of the underlying cytoskeleton. In contrast, genetic disruption of the juxtaparanodal protein Caspr2 or the nodal cytoskeletal protein βIV spectrin did not alter the paranodal cytoskeleton. Our results demonstrate that the paranodal junction contains specialized cytoskeletal components that may be important to stabilize axon–glia interactions and contribute to the membrane protein diffusion barrier found at paranodes.

Does Paranode Formation and Maintenance Require Partitioning of Neurofascin 155 into Lipid Rafts

Paranodal axoglial junctions in myelinated nerve fibers are essential for efficient action potential conduction and ion channel clustering. We show here that, in the mature CNS, a fraction of the oligodendroglial 155 kDa isoform of neurofascin (NF-155), a major constituent of paranodal junctions, has key biochemical characteristics of a lipid raft-associated protein. However, despite its robust expression, NF-155 is detergent soluble before paranodes form and in purified oligodendrocyte cell cultures. Only during its progressive localization to paranodes is NF-155 (1) associated with detergent-insoluble complexes that float at increasingly lower densities of sucrose and (2) retained in situ after detergent treatment. Finally, mutant animals with disrupted paranodal junctions, including those lacking specific myelin lipids, have significantly reduced levels of raft-associated NF-155. Together, these results suggest that trans interactions between oligodendroglial NF-155 and axonal ligands result in cross-linking, stabilization, and formation of paranodal lipid raft assemblies.

Dysfunction of nodes of Ranvier: a mechanism for anti-ganglioside antibody-mediated neuropathies.

Autoantibodies against gangliosides GM1 or GD1a are associated with acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) and acute motor-sensory axonal neuropathy (AMSAN), whereas antibodies to GD1b ganglioside are detected in acute sensory ataxic neuropathy (ASAN). These neuropathies have been proposed to be closely related and comprise a continuous spectrum, although the underlying mechanisms, especially for sensory nerve involvement, are still unclear. Antibodies to GM1 and GD1a have been proposed to disrupt the nodes of Ranvier in motor nerves via complement pathway. We hypothesized that the disruption of nodes of Ranvier is a common mechanism whereby various anti-ganglioside antibodies found in these neuropathies lead to nervous system dysfunction. Here, we show that the IgG monoclonal anti-GD1a/GT1b antibody injected into rat sciatic nerves caused deposition of IgG and complement products on the nodal axolemma and disrupted clusters of nodal and paranodal molecules predominantly in motor nerves, and induced early reversible motor nerve conduction block. Injection of IgG monoclonal anti-GD1b antibody induced nodal disruption predominantly in sensory nerves. In an ASAN rabbit model associated with IgG anti-GD1b antibodies, complement-mediated nodal disruption was observed predominantly in sensory nerves. In an AMAN rabbit model associated with IgG anti-GM1 antibodies, complement attack of nodes was found primarily in motor nerves, but occasionally in sensory nerves as well. Periaxonal macrophages and axonal degeneration were observed in dorsal roots from ASAN rabbits and AMAN rabbits. Thus, nodal disruption may be a common mechanism in immune-mediated neuropathies associated with autoantibodies to gangliosides GM1, GD1a, or GD1b, providing an explanation for the continuous spectrum of AMAN, AMSAN, and ASAN.

Synapse elimination during development and disease: immune molecules take centre stage

Synapse elimination is a normal developmental process occurring throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems. Meanwhile, gradual and early loss of synapses is a characteristic that is common to several neurodegenerative disease states. Recent evidence has emerged implicating molecules canonically involved in the immune system and inflammation accompanying neurodegeneration (e.g. classical complement cascade) as important players in the normal elimination of synapses in the developing nervous system. As a result, a question has emerged as to whether mechanisms underlying elimination of synapses during normal development are recapitulated and contribute to early synapse loss and nervous system dysfunction during neurodegenerative disease. The present review explores this possibility and provides a description of many neuroimmune proteins that may participate in the elimination of synapses and synaptic dysfunction in the developing and diseased brain.

Microglia Function in Central Nervous System Development and Plasticity

The nervous system comprises a remarkably diverse and complex network of different cell types, which must communicate with one another with speed, reliability, and precision. Thus, the developmental patterning and maintenance of these cell populations and their connections with one another pose a rather formidable task. Emerging data implicate microglia, the resident myeloid-derived cells of the central nervous system (CNS), in the spatial patterning and synaptic wiring throughout the healthy, developing, and adult CNS. Importantly, new tools to specifically manipulate microglia function have revealed that these cellular functions translate, on a systems level, to effects on overall behavior. In this review, we give a historical perspective of work to identify microglia function in the healthy CNS and highlight exciting new work in the field that has identified roles for these cells in CNS development, maintenance, and plasticity.

Glial regulation of the axonal membrane at nodes of Ranvier.

Action potential conduction in myelinated nerve fibers depends on a polarized axonal membrane. Voltage-gated Na(+) and K(+) channels are clustered at nodes of Ranvier and mediate the transmembrane currents necessary for rapid saltatory conduction. Paranodal junctions flank nodes and function as attachment sites for myelin and as paracellular and membrane protein diffusion barriers. Common molecular mechanisms, directed by myelinating glia, are used to establish these axonal membrane domains. Initially, heterophilic interactions between glial and axonal cell adhesion molecules define the locations where nodes or paranodes form. Subsequently, within each domain, axonal cell adhesion molecules are stabilized and retained through interactions with cytoskeletal and scaffolding proteins, including ankyrins and spectrins.