Glial alterations from early to late stages in a model of Alzheimer's disease: Evidence of autophagy involvement in Aβ internalization

Juvenile exposure to a high fat diet promotes behavioral and limbic alterations in the absence of obesity

The incidence of metabolic disorders including obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome have seriously increased in the last decades. These diseases - with growing impact in modern societies - constitute major risk factors for neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), sharing insulin resistance, inflammation and associated cognitive impairment. However, cerebral cellular and molecular pathways involved are not yet clearly understood. Thus, our aim was to study the impact of a non-severe high fat diet (HFD) that resembles western-like alimentary habits, particularly involving juvenile stages where the brain physiology and connectivity are in plain maturation. To this end, one-month-old C57BL/6J male mice were given either a control diet or HFD during 4 months. Exposure to HFD produced metabolic alterations along with changes in behavioral and central parameters, in the absence of obesity. Two-month-old HFD mice showed increased glycemia and plasmatic IL1β but these values normalized at the end of the HFD protocol at 5 months of age, probably representing an acute response that is compensated at later stages. After four months of HFD exposure, mice presented dyslipidemia, increased Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) activity, hepatic insulin resistance and inflammation. Alterations in the behavioral profile of the HFD group were shown by the impediment in nest building behavior, deficiencies in short and mid-term spatial memories, anxious and depressive- like behavior. Regarding the latter disruptions in emotional processing, we found an increased neural activity in the amygdala, shown by a greater number of c-Fos+ nuclei. We found that hippocampal adult neurogenesis was decreased in HFD mice, showing diminished cell proliferation measured as Ki67+ cells and neuronal differentiation in SGZ by doublecortin labeling. These phenomena were accompanied by a neuroinflammatory and insulin-resistant state in the hippocampus, depicted by a reactive phenotype in Iba1+ microglia cells (increased in number and soma size) and an impaired response to insulin given by decreased phosphorylated Akt levels and increased levels of inhibitory phosphorylation of IRS1. Our data portray a set of alterations in behavioral and neural parameters as a consequence of an early-life exposure to a quite moderate high fat diet, many of which can resemble AD-related features. These results highly emphasize the need to study how metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders are interrelated in deep, thus allowing the finding of successful preventive and therapeutic approaches.

Mechanisms of Aβ Clearance and Degradation by Glial Cells

Glial cells have a variety of functions in the brain, ranging from immune defense against external and endogenous hazardous stimuli, regulation of synaptic formation, calcium homeostasis, and metabolic support for neurons. Their dysregulation can contribute to the development of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). One of the most important functions of glial cells in AD is the regulation of Amyloid-β (Aβ) levels in the brain. Microglia and astrocytes have been reported to play a central role as moderators of Aβ clearance and degradation. The mechanisms of Aβ degradation by glial cells include the production of proteases, including neprilysin, the insulin degrading enzyme, and the endothelin-converting enzymes, able to hydrolyse Aβ at different cleavage sites. Besides these enzymes, other proteases have been described to have some role in Aβ elimination, such as plasminogen activators, angiotensin-converting enzyme, and matrix metalloproteinases. Other relevant mediators that are released by glial cells are extracellular chaperones, involved in the clearance of Aβ alone or in association with receptors/transporters that facilitate their exit to the blood circulation. These include apolipoproteins, α2macroglobulin, and α1-antichymotrypsin. Finally, astrocytes and microglia have an essential role in phagocytosing Aβ, in many cases via a number of receptors that are expressed on their surface. In this review, we examine all of these mechanisms, providing an update on the latest research in this field.

Lead exposure induced microgliosis and astrogliosis in hippocampus of young mice potentially by triggering TLR4-MyD88-NFκB signaling cascades

Proper proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells or progenitors in hippocampus is critical to learn and memory functions, which might be disturbed by lead toxicity particularly in young individuals. While astroglial and microglial cells are known to play an important role in regulating neurogenesis of hippocampus, their abnormal response and influence on hippocampal neurogenesis remains unclear. In this study, therefore, glial response including microgliosis, astrogliogenesis and mediating involvement of TLR4-MyD88-NFκB signaling cascades were observed in hippocampus of young mice by animal model with lead (plumbum, Pb) exposure. It revealed that (1) significant microglial activation occurred in hippocampus soon following Pb exposure; (2) increased levels of TLR4, MyD88, NFκB expression were concomitantly detected; (3) BrdU-incorporated progenitor cells were observed in dentate gyrus with significantly-increased numbers at d28 in Pb insult group; (4) obvious astrogliogenesis was observed while these doublecortin-labeled differentiated neurons were not significantly changed in hippocampus; (5) administration of MyD88 inhibitory peptide attenuated or relieved above effects; (6) enhanced expression levels of IL-1β, TNFα, p38MAPK and ERK1/2 were also detected in hippocampus, indicating potential implication of inflammatory response and MAPK signaling activation in lead-induced microgliosis and astrogliosis. Data of this study overall have indicated that lead exposure could trigger or induce abnormal microgliosis and astrogliogenesis in the hippocampus of young mice through triggering TLR4-MyD88-NFκB signaling cascades, which might possibly thereafter disturb hippocampal neurogenesis and functional plasticity.