Department of Neurology, Fujian Institute of Geriatrics, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian 350001, China.
Fujian Key Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350001, China.
Chin Med J (Engl). 2021 Nov 3;135(2):205-215. doi: 10.1097/CM9.0000000000001769.
Microglia plays an indispensable role in the pathological process of sleep deprivation (SD). Here, the potential role of microglial CX3C-chemokine receptor 1 (CX3CR1) in modulating the cognition decline during SD was evaluated in terms of microglial neuroinflammation and synaptic pruning. In this study, we aimed to investigat whether the interference in the microglial function by the CX3CR1 knockout affects the CNS's response to SD.
Middle-aged wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 and CX3CR1-/- mice were either subjected to SD or allowed normal sleep (S) for 8 h to mimic the pathophysiological changes of middle-aged people after staying up all night. After which, behavioral and histological tests were used to explore their different changes.
CX3CR1 deficiency prevented SD-induced cognitive impairments, unlike WT groups. Compared with the CX3CR1-/- S group, the CX3CR1-/- SD mice reported a markedly decreased microglia and cellular oncogene fos density in the dentate gyrus (DG), decreased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and decreased microglial phagocytosis-related factors, whereas increased levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus and a significant increase in the density of spines of the DG were also noted.
These findings suggest that CX3CR1 deficiency leads to different cerebral behaviors and responses to SD. The inflammation-attenuating activity and the related modification of synaptic pruning are possible mechanism candidates, which indicate CX3CR1 as a candidate therapeutic target for the prevention of the sleep loss-induced cognitive impairments.
小胶质细胞在睡眠剥夺(SD)的病理过程中起着不可或缺的作用。在这里,我们评估了小胶质细胞 CX3C-趋化因子受体 1(CX3CR1)在调节 SD 期间认知能力下降中的潜在作用,特别是在小胶质细胞神经炎症和突触修剪方面。在这项研究中,我们旨在研究 CX3CR1 缺失对小胶质细胞功能的干扰是否会影响中枢神经系统对 SD 的反应。
中年野生型(WT)C57BL/6 和 CX3CR1-/- 小鼠要么接受 SD,要么允许正常睡眠(S)8 小时,以模拟通宵熬夜后中老年人的病理生理变化。之后,使用行为和组织学测试来探索它们的不同变化。
与 WT 组不同,CX3CR1 缺失可预防 SD 引起的认知障碍。与 CX3CR1-/- S 组相比,CX3CR1-/- SD 小鼠在齿状回(DG)中的小胶质细胞和细胞原癌基因 fos 密度明显降低,促炎细胞因子表达降低,小胶质细胞吞噬相关因子减少,而海马中的抗炎细胞因子水平升高,DG 中的棘密度显著增加。
这些发现表明,CX3CR1 缺失导致大脑行为和对 SD 的反应不同。炎症减弱活性和相关的突触修剪修饰可能是候选机制,这表明 CX3CR1 是预防睡眠剥夺引起的认知障碍的候选治疗靶点。