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Mastication Affects Transcriptomes of Mouse Microglia
Mineaki Seki1, Arisa Haino1, Tatsuya Ishikawa1
1Research Institute for Healthy Living, Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences, Niigata, Japan.
Background/Aim:
We investigated whether mastication affects microglia, whose activity is thought to be associated with cognition and brain tumor progression.
Materials And Methods:
We kept mice by feeding either a hard or soft diet for 2, 4 or 8 months. After each period, we removed the whole brains and isolated microglia. The total RNA extracted from each brain's microglia was subjected to DNA microarray analysis.
Results:
Many genes were found to be significantly differentially expressed between hard- and soft-diet-fed mice in each group of the same feeding period. The expression of several genes involved in the regulation of actin cytoskeleton was down-regulated in the soft-diet-fed mice.
Conclusion:
Mastication may affect microglia's roles in cognition as well as their neuroimmune activity through their activity of patrolling the brain.
Insights
Chewing hard food may influence brain immune cells called microglia. This suggests mastication impacts brain health and function, including cognition and tumor growth.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Immunology
- Dietary Science
Background:
- Microglia are key immune cells in the brain.
- Microglial activity is linked to cognitive functions and brain tumor development.
- The impact of mastication on microglia remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of mastication (diet hardness) on microglia.
- To determine if mastication influences gene expression in brain microglia.
Main Methods:
- Mice were fed either a hard or soft diet for 2, 4, or 8 months.
- Brains were harvested, and microglia were isolated.
- Microglial RNA underwent DNA microarray analysis to assess gene expression.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in gene expression were observed between hard- and soft-diet groups.
- Genes regulating the actin cytoskeleton were notably downregulated in mice fed a soft diet.
- Mastication demonstrably alters microglial gene expression profiles.
Conclusions:
- Mastication, through diet hardness, influences microglia.
- Altered microglial activity may impact cognitive processes.
- Mastication could modulate neuroimmune responses and brain patrolling by microglia.
