Abstract
Depending on the species, microglial cells represent 5–20% of glial cells in the adult brain. As the innate immune effector of the brain, microglia are involved in several functions: regulation of inflammation, synaptic connectivity, programmed cell death, wiring and circuitry formation, phagocytosis of cell debris, and synaptic pruning and sculpting of postnatal neural circuits. Moreover, microglia contribute to some neurodevelopmental disorders such as Nasu-Hakola disease (NHD), and to aged-associated neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and others. There is evidence that human and rodent microglia may become senescent. This event determines alterations in the microglia activation status, associated with a chronic inflammation phenotype and with the loss of neuroprotective functions that lead to a greater susceptibility to the neurodegenerative diseases of aging. In the central nervous system (CNS), Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells 2-DNAX activation protein 12 (TREM2-DAP12) is a signaling complex expressed exclusively in microglia. As a microglial surface receptor, TREM2 interacts with DAP12 to initiate signal transduction pathways that promote microglial cell activation, phagocytosis, and microglial cell survival. Defective TREM2-DAP12 functions play a central role in the pathogenesis of several diseases. The CX3CL1 (fractalkine)-CX3CR1 signaling represents the most important communication channel between neurons and microglia. The expression of CX3CL1 in neurons and of its receptor CX3CR1 in microglia determines a specific interaction, playing fundamental roles in the regulation of the maturation and function of these cells. Here, we review the role of the TREM2-DAP12 and CX3CL1-CX3CR1 axes in aged microglia and the involvement of these pathways in physiological CNS aging and in age-associated neurodegenerative diseases.
Highlights
The existence of microglial cells within the central nervous system (CNS) was demonstrated a century ago by del Rio-Hortega [1]
Among the multiple and complex events that occur during brain aging, the role of the TREM2-DAP12 axis, a signaling complex expressed exclusively in microglia, may be fundamental, given that, by regulating the phagocytic function of microglia and the overall fitness of microglia during their lifespan, TREM2 signaling is essential for keeping CNS tissue homeostasis [19]
Contrariwise, in mixed neuron-glia cultures derived from Cx3cr1−/− mice and in CX3CR1 silenced BV-2 cells, the LPS-induced release of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, nitric oxide (NO), and superoxide is reduced compared to WT cells, [139] suggesting that CX3CL1 is involved in the release of proinflammatory substances by activated microglia
Summary
The existence of microglial cells within the CNS was demonstrated a century ago by del Rio-Hortega [1]. Among the multiple and complex events that occur during brain aging, the role of the TREM2-DAP12 axis, a signaling complex expressed exclusively in microglia, may be fundamental, given that, by regulating the phagocytic function of microglia and the overall fitness of microglia during their lifespan, TREM2 signaling is essential for keeping CNS tissue homeostasis [19]. It is involved in many typical pathologies of the aging brain, little is known about TREM2 physiological role in aging. The development of neurodegeneration and normal aging are two closely linked processes, the molecular basis of the switch that triggers the transition from healthy aging to neurodegeneration remains unrevealed
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