Abstract

Kolmer cells (epiplexus macrophages) are the least studied population of phagocytic cells in the mammalian brain. In the present work, we studied the response of these cells to high blood pressure and ischemic brain injury caused by a short middle cerebral artery occlusion. We used spontaneously hypertensive SHR and normotensive WKY rats. Kolmer cells of normotensive WKY animals had a small volume of perinuclear cytoplasm with a cortical concentration of Iba-1 protein. These cells had characteristic thin, sometimes tortuous processes. Moderate activation due to high blood pressure in SHR rats was accompanied by an increase in the perinuclear cytoplasm volume and the appearance of numerous straight thin processes. Further activation caused by ischemia led to the disappearance of processes and the cells became round. The structural rearrangements were accompanied by the disappearance of the Iba-1 protein concentration gradient in the cytoplasm. Also, the intranuclear accumulation of the cytoplasmic Iba-1 protein in Kolmer cells was first discovered, independent of their activation. That indicates the polyfunctionality of this protein in the cell. The obtained results point to the involvement of Kolmer cells in the brain's response to injury.

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