Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO.
Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO.
J Exp Med. 2023 Jan 2;220(1). doi: 10.1084/jem.20220654. Epub 2022 Oct 11.
Variants in the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) gene are associated with increased risk for late-onset AD. Genetic loss of or decreased TREM2 function impairs the microglial response to amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques, resulting in more diffuse Aβ plaques and increased peri-plaque neuritic dystrophy and AD-tau seeding. Thus, microglia and TREM2 are at a critical intersection of Aβ and tau pathologies in AD. Since genetically decreasing TREM2 function increases Aβ-induced tau seeding, we hypothesized that chronically increasing TREM2 signaling would decrease amyloid-induced tau-seeding and spreading. Using a mouse model of amyloidosis in which AD-tau is injected into the brain to induce Aβ-dependent tau seeding/spreading, we found that chronic administration of an activating TREM2 antibody increases peri-plaque microglial activation but surprisingly increases peri-plaque NP-tau pathology and neuritic dystrophy, without altering Aβ plaque burden. Our data suggest that sustained microglial activation through TREM2 that does not result in strong amyloid removal may exacerbate Aβ-induced tau pathology, which may have important clinical implications.
髓系细胞触发受体 2(TREM2)基因变异与晚发性 AD 的风险增加有关。TREM2 基因缺失或功能降低会损害小胶质细胞对淀粉样蛋白-β(Aβ)斑块的反应,导致 Aβ 斑块更弥散,并增加斑块周围神经突的营养不良和 AD-tau 播散。因此,小胶质细胞和 TREM2 处于 AD 中 Aβ 和 tau 病理学的关键交汇点。由于遗传上降低 TREM2 功能会增加 Aβ 诱导的 tau 播散,我们假设慢性增加 TREM2 信号会减少淀粉样蛋白诱导的 tau 播散和扩散。我们使用一种淀粉样变性的小鼠模型,将 AD-tau 注射到大脑中以诱导 Aβ 依赖性 tau 播散/扩散,发现慢性给予激活 TREM2 的抗体可增加斑块周围小胶质细胞的激活,但令人惊讶的是增加了斑块周围 NP-tau 病理学和神经突营养不良,而不改变 Aβ 斑块负担。我们的数据表明,通过 TREM2 持续的小胶质细胞激活,如果不能导致强烈的淀粉样蛋白清除,可能会加剧 Aβ 诱导的 tau 病理学,这可能具有重要的临床意义。
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