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Sustained microglial depletion with CSF1R inhibitor impairs parenchymal plaque development in an Alzheimer’s disease model

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
Many risk genes for the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are exclusively or highly expressed in myeloid cells. Microglia are dependent on colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) signaling for their survival. We designed and synthesized a highly selective brain-penetrant CSF1R inhibitor (PLX5622) allowing for extended and specific microglial elimination, preceding and during pathology development. We find that in the 5xFAD mouse model of AD, plaques fail to form in the parenchymal space following microglial depletion, except in areas containing surviving microglia. Instead, Aβ deposits in cortical blood vessels reminiscent of cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Altered gene expression in the 5xFAD hippocampus is also reversed by the absence of microglia. Transcriptional analyses of the residual plaque-forming microglia show they exhibit a disease-associated microglia profile. Collectively, we describe the structure, formulation, and efficacy of PLX5622, which allows for sustained microglial depletion and identify roles of microglia in initiating plaque pathogenesis.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1624183
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 10; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Interleukin‐12/23 deficiency differentially affects pathology in male and female Alzheimer's disease‐like mice text January 2020
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Additional file 6 of Knock-in models related to Alzheimer’s disease: synaptic transmission, plaques and the role of microglia image January 2021
Additional file 1 of Rejuvenating aged microglia by p16ink4a-siRNA-loaded nanoparticles increases amyloid-β clearance in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease image January 2024
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Rh-CSF1 attenuates neuroinflammation via the CSF1R/PLCG2/PKCε pathway in a rat model of neonatal HIE journal June 2020
Flow-cytometric microglial sorting coupled with quantitative proteomics identifies moesin as a highly-abundant microglial protein with relevance to Alzheimer’s disease journal May 2020
Interleukin‐12/23 deficiency differentially affects pathology in male and female Alzheimer's disease‐like mice journal January 2020


Figures / Tables (10)