TREM2 Overexpression has No Improvement on Neuropathology and Cognitive Impairment in Aging APPswe/PS1dE9 Mice

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• 作者：Teng Jiang ; Yu Wan ; Ying-Dong Zhang ; Jun-Shan Zhou ; Qing Gao&#8230
• 关键词：TREM2 ; Alzheimer’s disease ; Aging ; Microglia ; Phagocytosis ; Amyloid ; β ; Cognitive impairment
• 刊名：Molecular Neurobiology
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：March 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：54
• 期：2
• 页码：855-865
• 全文大小：
• 刊物主题：Neurosciences; Neurobiology; Cell Biology; Neurology;
• 出版者：Springer US
• ISSN：1559-1182
• 卷排序：54

文摘

Previously, we showed that overexpression of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2), a microglia-specific immune receptor, in the brain of a middle-aged (7 months old) APPswe/PS1dE9 mice could ameliorate Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-related neuropathology by enhancement of microglial amyloid-β (Aβ) phagocytosis. Since AD is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder, it is critical to assess the efficacy of TREM2 overexpression in aging animals with an advanced disease stage. In vivo, we employed a lentiviral strategy to overexpress TREM2 in the brain of aging (18 months old) APPswe/PS1dE9 mice, and observed its efficacy on AD-related neuropathology and cognitive functions. Afterwards, we directly isolated microglia from middle-aged and aging APPswe/PS1dE9 mice and determined effects of TREM2 overexpression on microglial Aβ phagocytosis and Aβ-binding receptors expression in vitro. In aging APPswe/PS1dE9 mice, TREM2 overexpression has no beneficial effect on AD-related neuropathology and spatial cognitive functions. Of note, in vitro experiments showed a significant reduction of Aβ phagocytosis in microglia from aging APPswe/PS1dE9 mice, possibly attributing to the declined expression of Aβ-binding receptors. Meanwhile, this phagocytic deficit in microglia from aging APPswe/PS1dE9 mice cannot be rescued by TREM2 overexpression. Taken together, our study shows that TREM2 overexpression fails to provide neuroprotection in aging APPswe/PS1dE9 mice, possibly attributing to deficits in microglial Aβ phagocytosis at the late-stage of disease progression. These findings indicate that TREM2-mediated protection in AD is at least partially dependent on the reservation of microglial phagocytic functions, emphasizing the importance of early therapeutic interventions for this devastating disease.