Abstract
ABSTRACTMicroglia participate in synapse remodeling in the cortex and hippocampus during mouse postnatal development. Although sex differences in microglia activity during embryonic development have been reported in these regions, it remains unexplored whether microglia show sexually dimorphic features during the early postnatal period, a critical window for synapse formation and maturation. Here, we investigated morphological and functional features of microglia across early postnatal development as well as morphological features of both pre‐ and postsynaptic neuronal compartments in the mouse hippocampus. We found a sex‐dependent shift in microglia volume and phagocytic capacity across the first four postnatal weeks. Measurements of synaptic features revealed sex differences in the density of synaptic spines and boutons during the second postnatal week. These data are consistent with a precocious development of both microglia and synapses in the female brain. We further hypothesize that this bias may contribute to sex‐specific brain wiring. © 2017 The Authors. Developmental Neurobiology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 78: 618–626, 2018
Highlights
Microglia are the resident immune cells of the brain
Our analysis revealed that microglia volume and CD68 colocalization peaked at P15 and declined at P28 and P40
We investigated sexual dimorphism in microglia morphology and phagocytic capacity as well as synaptic spine and bouton density and morphology in the postnatal mouse hippocampus
Summary
Microglia are the resident immune cells of the brain. They are produced in the yolk sac during the earliest. In order to investigate sexual dimorphism in microglia we measured microglia volume and phagocytic activity from early to late postnatal stages in the hippocampus of male and female mice.
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