TREM2 deficiency impairs chemotaxis and microglial responses to neuronal injury.
EMBO Rep. 2017-05-08; 18(7): 1186-1198
DOI: 10.15252/embr.201743922
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1. EMBO Rep. 2017 Jul;18(7):1186-1198. doi: 10.15252/embr.201743922. Epub 2017 May
8.
TREM2 deficiency impairs chemotaxis and microglial responses to neuronal injury.
Mazaheri F(1), Snaidero N(2)(3), Kleinberger G(4)(5), Madore C(6), Daria A(5),
Werner G(5), Krasemann S(7), Capell A(5), Trümbach D(8), Wurst W(1)(4)(8)(9),
Brunner B(1), Bultmann S(10), Tahirovic S(1), Kerschensteiner M(3)(4), Misgeld
T(1)(2)(4), Butovsky O(6), Haass C(11)(4)(5).
Author information:
(1)German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Munich, Munich, Germany.
(2)Institute of Neuronal Cell Biology, Technical University Munich, Munich,
Germany.
(3)Institute for Clinical Neuroimmunology, Biomedical Center (BMC) and University
Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
(4)Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany.
(5)Biomedical Center (BMC), Biochemistry, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München,
Munich, Germany.
(6)Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Department of Neurology, Brigham
and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
(7)Institute for Neuropathology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf,
Hamburg, Germany.
(8)Institute of Developmental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg,
Germany.
(9)Developmental Genetics, Technical University Munich-Weihenstephan, Neuherberg,
Germany.
(10)Department of Biology and Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich
(CIPSM), Ludwig Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
(11)German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Munich, Munich, Germany
.
Sequence variations in the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2
(TREM2) have been linked to an increased risk for neurodegenerative disorders
such as Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. In the brain,
TREM2 is predominantly expressed in microglia. Several disease-associated TREM2
variants result in a loss of function by reducing microglial phagocytosis,
impairing lipid sensing, preventing binding of lipoproteins and affecting
shielding of amyloid plaques. We here investigate the consequences of TREM2 loss
of function on the microglia transcriptome. Among the differentially expressed
messenger RNAs in wild-type and Trem2-/- microglia, gene clusters are identified
which represent gene functions in chemotaxis, migration and mobility. Functional
analyses confirm that loss of TREM2 impairs appropriate microglial responses to
injury and signals that normally evoke chemotaxis on multiple levels. In an ex
vivo organotypic brain slice assay, absence of TREM2 reduces the distance
migrated by microglia. Moreover, migration towards defined chemo-attractants is
reduced upon ablation of TREM2 and can be rescued by TREM2 re-expression. In
vivo, microglia lacking TREM2 migrate less towards injected apoptotic neurons,
and outgrowth of microglial processes towards sites of laser-induced focal CNS
damage in the somatosensory cortex is slowed. The apparent lack of chemotactic
stimulation upon depletion of TREM2 is consistent with a stable expression
profile of genes characterizing the homoeostatic signature of microglia.
© 2017 The Authors.
DOI: 10.15252/embr.201743922
PMCID: PMC5494532
PMID: 28483841 [Indexed for MEDLINE]