Jun 1, 2024 · In APP/PS1 controls (left), astrocytes (green) and microglia (brown) form a wide glial net around plaques. Without Plexin-B1 to enforce cell spacing (right), glia crowd together and around plaques, compacting them more. [Courtesy of Huang et al., Nature Neuroscience, 2024.] This potency manifested in the plaque load.

Sep 26, 2024 · Less well understood is what role inflammation and glial changes play. Now, by analyzing single-nuclei RNA-Seq data from more than 400 postmortem brains, scientists have homed in on specific glial subtypes associated with distinct stages of AD pathology, estimating the effects subtypes have on plaques, tangles, and cognition.

Feb 27, 2024 · The daily transfer of lipids from neurons to glia required neuronal lazarillo (NLaz), a fly apolipoprotein similar to human apolipoprotein E (APOE): knocking down NLaz reduced glial lipid droplet accumulation. Interestingly, reducing the expression of glial lazarillo (GLaz) resulted in more lipid droplets rather than fewer, which was unexpected.

Jun 7, 2024 · The authors provide evidence that lipid droplets that accumulate in aged brains are sourced by lipids from the senescent glia themselves (cell autonomous), while others suggest that the source of glial lipid droplets in young brains is neurons (non-cell autonomous) (Moulton et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2017). Thus, it will be ...

Jul 22, 2022 · In particular, both papers cautioned against the lure of easy dichotomies, of categorizing glial cells as resting versus activated, or protective versus toxic. The more scientists learn, the more apparent it becomes that these labels are oversimplifications of complex and dynamic states, which can be beneficial or detrimental in different contexts.

Nov 29, 2023 · This paper provides an important proof of concept for the role cholesterol has in mediating the effects of ApoE4 on Tau pathology. This effect might be driven through glial lipid changes and downstream inflammatory processes, as recent work has uncovered the importance of lipids in glial activation.

Nov 29, 2023 · Gene expression studies confirmed that GW3965 treatment normalized glial lipid metabolism, as well as helping neurons maintain synapse function and better degrade proteins. Crossing TE4 mice with transgenics that expressed twice the normal amount of ABCA1 was similarly protective, showing that the treatment acted through this pathway.

Apr 12, 2018 · Glial Impostor? DCX+ (green) cells co-expressing the oligodendrocyte marker Olig2 (red). [Courtesy of Sorrells et al., Nature, 2018.] The researchers concluded that neurogenesis is robust only in the earliest stages of development, and that DCX+ cells in late childhood and adult samples were actually glia.

Sep 7, 2010 · This protocol describes the preparation of primary glial cultures consisting of ~75% astrocytes and ~25% microglia. The protocol specifies neonatal mouse cerebral cortex, but also works for late embryos, for rat, and for most CNS regions.

Feb 27, 2024 · The daily transfer of lipids from neurons to glia required neuronal lazarillo (NLaz), a fly apolipoprotein similar to human apolipoprotein E (APOE): knocking down NLaz reduced glial lipid droplet accumulation. Interestingly, reducing the expression of glial lazarillo (GLaz) resulted in more lipid droplets rather than fewer, which was unexpected.