1
|
Pascoal TA, Benedet AL, Ashton NJ, Kang MS, Therriault J, Chamoun M, Savard M, Lussier FZ, Tissot C, Karikari TK, Ottoy J, Mathotaarachchi S, Stevenson J, Massarweh G, Schöll M, de Leon MJ, Soucy JP, Edison P, Blennow K, Zetterberg H, Gauthier S, Rosa-Neto P. Microglial activation and tau propagate jointly across Braak stages. Nat Med 2021; 27:1592-1599. [PMID: 34446931 DOI: 10.1038/s41591-021-01456-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 232] [Impact Index Per Article: 77.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Compelling experimental evidence suggests that microglial activation is involved in the spread of tau tangles over the neocortex in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We tested the hypothesis that the spatial propagation of microglial activation and tau accumulation colocalize in a Braak-like pattern in the living human brain. We studied 130 individuals across the aging and AD clinical spectrum with positron emission tomography brain imaging for microglial activation ([11C]PBR28), amyloid-β (Aβ) ([18F]AZD4694) and tau ([18F]MK-6240) pathologies. We further assessed microglial triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations and brain gene expression patterns. We found that [11C]PBR28 correlated with CSF soluble TREM2 and showed regional distribution resembling TREM2 gene expression. Network analysis revealed that microglial activation and tau correlated hierarchically with each other following Braak-like stages. Regression analysis revealed that the longitudinal tau propagation pathways depended on the baseline microglia network rather than the tau network circuits. The co-occurrence of Aβ, tau and microglia abnormalities was the strongest predictor of cognitive impairment in our study population. Our findings support a model where an interaction between Aβ and activated microglia sets the pace for tau spread across Braak stages.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tharick A Pascoal
- Departments of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. .,Departments of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. .,Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Douglas Research Institute, Le Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, and Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. .,Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
| | - Andrea L Benedet
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Douglas Research Institute, Le Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, and Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Nicholas J Ashton
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Maurice Wohl Institute Clinical Neuroscience Institute, King's College London, London, UK.,NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health and Biomedical Research Unit for Dementia at South London and Maudsley, NHS Foundation, London, UK
| | - Min Su Kang
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Douglas Research Institute, Le Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, and Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.,Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Joseph Therriault
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Douglas Research Institute, Le Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, and Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Mira Chamoun
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Douglas Research Institute, Le Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, and Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Melissa Savard
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Douglas Research Institute, Le Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, and Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Firoza Z Lussier
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Douglas Research Institute, Le Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, and Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Cécile Tissot
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Douglas Research Institute, Le Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, and Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Thomas K Karikari
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Julie Ottoy
- Molecular Imaging Center Antwerp, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.,LC Campbell Cognitive Neurology Unit, Hurvitz Brain Sciences Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Sulantha Mathotaarachchi
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Douglas Research Institute, Le Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, and Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Jenna Stevenson
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Douglas Research Institute, Le Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, and Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Gassan Massarweh
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Michael Schöll
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Wallenberg Centre for Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Mony J de Leon
- Department of Radiology Weill Medical Center Brain Health Imaging Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Jean-Paul Soucy
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Paul Edison
- Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK
| | - Kaj Blennow
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden
| | - Henrik Zetterberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK.,Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden.,UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, London, UK
| | - Serge Gauthier
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Douglas Research Institute, Le Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, and Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Pedro Rosa-Neto
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, Douglas Research Institute, Le Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, and Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. .,Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|