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Morphometric characterization of microglial phenotypes in human cerebral cortex.

Susana G Torres-Platas, Samuel Comeau, Adeline Rachalski

  • 1McGill Group for Suicide Studies, 6875 LaSalle Blvd, Verdun, Québec H4H 1R3, Canada. naguib.mechawar@mcgill.ca.

Journal of Neuroinflammation
|January 23, 2014
PubMed
Summary

Human microglia exhibit diverse morphologies, including ramified, primed, reactive, and amoeboid phenotypes. Despite species differences, ramified microglia show conserved morphology between humans and mice, suggesting similar functions.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Immunology
  • Cell Biology

Background:

  • Microglia, the resident immune cells of the central nervous system, display a spectrum of morphologies.
  • While rodent microglial morphology is well-documented, human microglial fine features remain less understood.
  • The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) is a key region for adapting to neuroinflammation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To characterize the morphometric properties of human microglia in the dACC.
  • To compare human microglial morphology with that of murine microglia.
  • To identify species-specific differences and similarities in microglial phenotypes.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of postmortem dACC samples from 11 healthy individuals.
  • Immunostaining for Ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 (IBA1) to identify microglia.
  • 3D reconstruction and quantitative morphological analysis of IBA1-immunoreactive cells using Neurolucida software.
  • Comparison with IBA1-immunoreactive cells in adult mouse cingulate cortex.

Main Results:

  • All microglial phenotypes (ramified, primed, reactive, amoeboid) were found in significant proportions in human gray and white matter.
  • Primed human microglia showed a 2.5-fold increase in cell body size compared to ramified microglia, with similar branching.
  • Reactive and amoeboid microglia had fewer processes than primed microglia; most adult mouse microglia were highly ramified.
  • Ramified microglia morphology was strikingly similar between human and mouse species.

Conclusions:

  • This study provides essential morphometric data on human microglia in the normal adult cerebral cortex.
  • These findings will aid future research on microglial morphology in various neurological and psychiatric conditions.
  • The morphological similarity of ramified microglia across species suggests conserved functions.