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Lorin C, Guiet R, Chiaruttini N, Ambrosini G, Boci E, Abdellah M, Markram H, Keller D. Structural and molecular characterization of astrocyte and vasculature connectivity in the mouse hippocampus and cortex. Glia 2024. [PMID: 39007459 DOI: 10.1002/glia.24594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Revised: 07/02/2024] [Accepted: 07/04/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024]
Abstract
The relation of astrocytic endfeet to the vasculature plays a key functional role in the neuro-glia-vasculature unit. We characterize the spatial organization of astrocytes and the structural aspects that facilitate their involvement in molecular exchanges. Using double transgenic mice, we performed co-immunostaining, confocal microscopy, and three-dimensional digital segmentation to investigate the biophysical and molecular organization of astrocytes and their intricate endfoot network at the micrometer level in the isocortex and hippocampus. The results showed that hippocampal astrocytes had smaller territories, reduced endfoot dimensions, and fewer contacts with blood vessels compared with those in the isocortex. Additionally, we found that both connexins 43 and 30 have a higher density in the endfoot and the former is overexpressed relative to the latter. However, due to the limitations of the method, further studies are needed to determine the exact localization on the endfoot. The quantitative information obtained in this study will be useful for modeling the interactions of astrocytes with the vasculature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Lorin
- Blue Brain Project, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Campus Biotech, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Romain Guiet
- Bioimaging and Optics Platform, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Nicolas Chiaruttini
- Bioimaging and Optics Platform, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Giovanna Ambrosini
- Bioinformatics Competence Center, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Bioinformatics Competence Center, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Elvis Boci
- Blue Brain Project, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Campus Biotech, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Marwan Abdellah
- Blue Brain Project, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Campus Biotech, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Henry Markram
- Blue Brain Project, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Campus Biotech, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Keller
- Blue Brain Project, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Campus Biotech, Geneva, Switzerland
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Hoglund Z, Ruiz-Uribe N, Del Sastre E, Woost B, Bader E, Bailey J, Hyman BT, Zwang T, Bennett RE. Brain vasculature accumulates tau and is spatially related to tau tangle pathology in Alzheimer's disease. Acta Neuropathol 2024; 147:101. [PMID: 38884806 PMCID: PMC11182845 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-024-02751-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2024] [Revised: 06/05/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024]
Abstract
Insoluble pathogenic proteins accumulate along blood vessels in conditions of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), exerting a toxic effect on vascular cells and impacting cerebral homeostasis. In this work, we provide new evidence from three-dimensional human brain histology that tau protein, the main component of neurofibrillary tangles, can similarly accumulate along brain vascular segments. We quantitatively assessed n = 6 Alzheimer's disease (AD), and n = 6 normal aging control brains and saw that tau-positive blood vessel segments were present in all AD cases. Tau-positive vessels are enriched for tau at levels higher than the surrounding tissue and appear to affect arterioles across cortical layers (I-V). Further, vessels isolated from these AD tissues were enriched for N-terminal tau and tau phosphorylated at T181 and T217. Importantly, tau-positive vessels are associated with local areas of increased tau neurofibrillary tangles. This suggests that accumulation of tau around blood vessels may reflect a local clearance failure. In sum, these data indicate that tau, like amyloid beta, accumulates along blood vessels and may exert a significant influence on vasculature in the setting of AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Hoglund
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 114 16Th Street, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Nancy Ruiz-Uribe
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 114 16Th Street, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Eric Del Sastre
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 114 16Th Street, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Benjamin Woost
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 114 16Th Street, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Elizabeth Bader
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 114 16Th Street, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Joshua Bailey
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 114 16Th Street, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Bradley T Hyman
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 114 16Th Street, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Theodore Zwang
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 114 16Th Street, Charlestown, MA, USA.
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Rachel E Bennett
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 114 16Th Street, Charlestown, MA, USA.
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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Hoglund Z, Ruiz-Uribe N, del Sastre E, Woost B, Bailey J, Hyman BT, Zwang T, Bennett RE. Brain Vasculature Accumulates Tau and Is Spatially Related to Tau Tangle Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.27.577088. [PMID: 38328111 PMCID: PMC10849642 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.27.577088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Insoluble pathogenic proteins accumulate along blood vessels in conditions of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), exerting a toxic effect on vascular cells and impacting cerebral homeostasis. In this work we provide new evidence from three-dimensional human brain histology that tau protein, the main component of neurofibrillary tangles, can similarly accumulate along brain vascular segments. We quantitatively assessed n=6 Alzheimer's disease (AD), and n=6 normal aging control brains and saw that tau-positive blood vessel segments were present in all AD cases. Tau-positive vessels are enriched for tau at levels higher than the surrounding tissue and appear to affect arterioles across cortical layers (I-V). Further, vessels isolated from these AD tissues were enriched for N-terminal tau and tau phosphorylated at T181 and T217. Importantly, tau-positive vessels are associated with local areas of increased tau neurofibrillary tangles. This suggests that accumulation of tau around blood vessels may reflect a local clearance failure. In sum, these data indicate tau, like amyloid beta, accumulates along blood vessels and may exert a significant influence on vasculature in the setting of AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Hoglund
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Nancy Ruiz-Uribe
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Eric del Sastre
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Benjamin Woost
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Joshua Bailey
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Bradley T. Hyman
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Theodore Zwang
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Rachel E. Bennett
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Delage E, Guilbert T, Yates F. Successful 3D imaging of cleared biological samples with light sheet fluorescence microscopy. J Cell Biol 2023; 222:e202307143. [PMID: 37847528 PMCID: PMC10583220 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202307143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023] Open
Abstract
In parallel with the development of tissue-clearing methods, over the last decade, light sheet fluorescence microscopy has contributed to major advances in various fields, such as cell and developmental biology and neuroscience. While biologists are increasingly integrating three-dimensional imaging into their research projects, their experience with the technique is not always up to their expectations. In response to a survey of specific challenges associated with sample clearing and labeling, image acquisition, and data analysis, we have critically assessed the recent literature to characterize the difficulties inherent to light sheet fluorescence microscopy applied to cleared biological samples and to propose solutions to overcome them. This review aims to provide biologists interested in light sheet fluorescence microscopy with a primer for the development of their imaging pipeline, from sample preparation to image analysis. Importantly, we believe that issues could be avoided with better anticipation of image analysis requirements, which should be kept in mind while optimizing sample preparation and acquisition parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elise Delage
- CellTechs Laboratory, SupBiotech, Villejuif, France
- Service d’Etude des Prions et des Infections Atypiques, Institut François Jacob, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, Université Paris Saclay, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
| | - Thomas Guilbert
- Institut Cochin, Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (U1016), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (UMR 8104), Université de Paris (UMR-S1016), Paris, France
| | - Frank Yates
- CellTechs Laboratory, SupBiotech, Villejuif, France
- Service d’Etude des Prions et des Infections Atypiques, Institut François Jacob, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, Université Paris Saclay, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
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