Apolipoprotein E-specific innate immune response in astrocytes from targeted replacement mice
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Published on: November 19, 2014
Izumi Maezawa1, Nobuyo Maeda, Thomas J Montine
1Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. imaezawa@u.washington.edu
Background:
Inheritance of the three different alleles of the human apolipoprotein (apo) E gene (APOE) are associated with varying risk or clinical outcome from a variety of neurologic diseases. ApoE isoform-specific modulation of several pathogenic processes, in addition to amyloid beta metabolism in Alzheimer's disease, have been proposed: one of these is innate immune response by glia. Previously we have shown that primary microglia cultures from targeted replacement (TR) APOE mice have apoE isoform-dependent innate immune activation and paracrine damage to neurons that is greatest with TR by the epsilon4 allele (TR APOE4) and that derives from p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) activity.
Methods:
Primary cultures of TR APOE2, TR APOE3 and TR APOE4 astrocytes were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). ApoE secretion, cytokine production, and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) subunit activity were measured and compared.
Results:
Here we showed that activation of primary astrocytes from TR APOE mice with LPS led to TR APOE-dependent differences in cytokine secretion that were greatest in TR APOE2 and that were associated with differences in NF-kappaB subunit activity.
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that LPS activation of innate immune response in TR APOE glia results in opposing outcomes from microglia and astrocytes as a result of TR APOE-dependent activation of p38MAPK or NF-kappaB signaling in these two cell types.
