Tambuyzer Bart R, Lambrichts Ivo, Lenjou Marc, Nouwen Etienne J
Laboratory of Neurobiology and Neuropharmacology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp (UA), Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
Eur J Cell Biol. 2007 Apr;86(4):221-32. doi: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2007.01.002. Epub 2007 Mar 6.
Microglia are dispersed throughout the central nervous system. Under physiological circumstances they display a 'ramified' resting phenotype. In different neuropathologies microglia reversibly transform into the activated form, an amoeboid phagocyte with a broad spectrum of immune effector functions. In this study, a coculture of porcine microglia and the pig renal epithelial cell line LLC-PK1 was used to investigate microglial cell biology. The morphology of the cocultures was elucidated as well as the functionality of the microglia cells by proliferation, superoxide and phagocytosis assays. Our results demonstrate that direct intercellular contact between the two cell types was necessary for microglia to acquire a ramified morphology. Moreover, the conditioned medium of the renal cells promoted proliferation of microglia, inhibited giant cell formation and stimulated microglia to retain their capability to generate superoxide and to perform phagocytosis. In conclusion, we have constructed a cell culture system showing differentiation of microglia in vitro and keeping them in optimal conditions.
小胶质细胞分散分布于整个中枢神经系统。在生理情况下，它们呈现出“分支状”的静息表型。在不同的神经病理学情况下，小胶质细胞会可逆地转变为活化形式，即一种具有广泛免疫效应功能的阿米巴样吞噬细胞。在本研究中，使用猪小胶质细胞与猪肾上皮细胞系LLC-PK1的共培养来研究小胶质细胞生物学。通过增殖、超氧化物和吞噬作用测定，阐明了共培养物的形态以及小胶质细胞的功能。我们的结果表明，两种细胞类型之间的直接细胞间接触是小胶质细胞获得分支状形态所必需的。此外，肾细胞的条件培养基促进了小胶质细胞的增殖，抑制了巨细胞形成，并刺激小胶质细胞保持其产生超氧化物和进行吞噬作用的能力。总之，我们构建了一个细胞培养系统，该系统显示了小胶质细胞在体外的分化并使其处于最佳条件。
