Female mice exhibit similar long-term plasticity and microglial properties between the dorsal and ventral hippocampal poles

Abstract

The hippocampus is a heterogenous structure that exhibits functional segregation along its longitudinal axis. We recently showed that in male mice, microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells, differ between the dorsal (DH) and ventral (VH) hippocampus, impacting long-term potentiation (LTP) mainly through the CX3CL1-CX3CR1 signaling. Here, we assessed the specific features of the hippocampal poles in female mice, demonstrating a similar LTP amplitude in VH and DH in both control and Cx3cr1 knock-out mice. In addition, the expression levels of Cx3cr1 and Cx3cl1 mRNA do not differ between the two poles in control mice. These data support the critical role of the CX3CL1-CX3CR1 signaling in setting the physiological amount of plasticity, equally between poles in females. Although BDNF is higher in DH compared to VH, the expression levels of inflammatory markers involved in plasticity and of phagocytosis markers in microglia are comparable between the two poles. In accordance, microglia soma and arborization area/perimeter, and microglial ultrastructure are similar across regions, with the exception of microglial density, cells arborization solidity and circularity that are higher in DH. Understanding the molecular processes underlying microglial sex differences and their potential implications for plasticity in specific brain regions is of major importance in physiological and pathological conditions.