Activation of microglial cells and complement following traumatic injury in rat entorhinal-hippocampal slice cultures

The complement cascade has been suggested to be involved in development of secondary brain damage following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Previous studies have shown that reactive microglia are involved in activation of the complement cascade following various injuries to the nervous system. Macrophages seem to have a significant role in this process, but it is still unclear whether these cells, as well as the complement components, are derived from reactive microglia or if these biological events only can occur as a result from the influx of plasma and monocytes via a disrupted blood-brain barrier (BBB). The aim of this study was to investigate the response of microglial cells and the complement system in the absence of plasma/blood components following a standardized crush injury in an entorhinal-hippocampal slice culture. There was a clear increase in complement component C1q and C5b-9-IR (Membrane Attack Complex, MAC) in the area near the crush injury. MAC-IR appeared as numerous dots in clusters which co-localized with anti-NeuN labelled neurons in the injury border zone. Complement C1q-IR co-localized with reactive microglia, co-labelled with OX42 antisera. These findings show activation of the complement cascade near the injury zone and in particular, formation of MAC at the surface of neurons in this area. There was a distinct activation of microglial cells (OX42-IR) near the site of injury, as well as an increase in ED-1 expressing macrophages. In the absence of blood and plasma components it is likely that ED-1-labelled cells represent reactive microglia transformed into macrophages. In addition, Neurons (Neun-IR) near the injury were found to co-localize with clusterin-IR indicating upregulation of a defense system to the endogenous complement attack. The present study provides evidence that microglia and complement is activated in the injury border zone of the tissue slice in a similar fashion as in vivo following TBI, despite the absence of plasma/blood products and cells. These findings support the hypothesis that reactive microglia have a key role in complement activation following TBI by local synthesis of complement with a potential impact on development of secondary neuronal insults.