Epigenetics and Neurobiology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Monterotondo, Italy.
Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Dev Neurobiol. 2018 Jun;78(6):618-626. doi: 10.1002/dneu.22568. Epub 2018 Jan 4.
Microglia participate in synapse remodeling in the cortex and hippocampus during mouse postnatal development. Although sex differences in microglia activity during embryonic development have been reported in these regions, it remains unexplored whether microglia show sexually dimorphic features during the early postnatal period, a critical window for synapse formation and maturation. Here, we investigated morphological and functional features of microglia across early postnatal development as well as morphological features of both pre- and postsynaptic neuronal compartments in the mouse hippocampus. We found a sex-dependent shift in microglia volume and phagocytic capacity across the first four postnatal weeks. Measurements of synaptic features revealed sex differences in the density of synaptic spines and boutons during the second postnatal week. These data are consistent with a precocious development of both microglia and synapses in the female brain. We further hypothesize that this bias may contribute to sex-specific brain wiring. © 2017 The Authors. Developmental Neurobiology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 78: 618-626, 2018.
小胶质细胞参与了小鼠出生后发育过程中皮质和海马区突触重构。尽管已有研究报道称在这些区域，胚胎发育中小胶质细胞的活性存在性别差异，但小胶质细胞在突触形成和成熟的关键窗口期——出生后早期是否表现出性别二态特征仍未可知。在此，我们研究了小鼠海马区小胶质细胞在出生后早期发育过程中的形态和功能特征，以及突触前和突触后神经元区室的形态特征。我们发现，在出生后的前 4 周，小胶质细胞的体积和吞噬能力存在性别依赖性变化。对突触特征的测量显示，在第二周，突触棘和突触小泡的密度存在性别差异。这些数据与雌性大脑中小胶质细胞和突触的超前发育一致。我们进一步假设这种偏向可能有助于大脑连接的性别特异性。 2017 年 The Authors. 发育神经生物学 由 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 出版 发展神经生物学 78:618-626,2018.
