Brain Advance Access published online on September 26, 2008
Brain, doi:10.1093/brain/awn230
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Role of microglial IKKβ in kainic acid-induced hippocampal neuronal cell death
1Program in Neuroscience, DRI, and Department of Oral Physiology, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, 2Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, 3Department of Anatomy and Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Science, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, 4Department of Microbiology, School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 5Center for Neural Science, University of Science and Technology, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 6Department of Anatomy, 7Department of Microbiology, 8Infection Signaling Network Research Center, Chungnam National University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea and 9Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
Correspondence to:
Sung Joong Lee, PhD, Program in Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, DRI, and Department of Oral Physiology, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea and Michael Karin, PhD, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA. E-mail: sjlee87{at}snu.ac.kr
| Summary |
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Microglial cells are activated during excitotoxin-induced neurodegeneration. However, the in vivo role of microglia activation in neurodegeneration has not yet been fully elucidated. To this end, we used Ikkβ conditional knockout mice (LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F) in which the Ikkβ gene is specifically deleted in cells of myeloid lineage, including microglia, in the CNS. This deletion reduced I
B kinase (IKK) activity in cultured primary microglia by up to 40% compared with wild-type (IkkβF/F), and lipopolysaccharide-induced proinflammatory gene expression was also compromised. Kainic acid (KA)-induced hippocampal neuronal cell death was reduced by 30% in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice compared with wild-type mice. Reduced neuronal cell death was accompanied by decreased KA-induced glial cell activation and subsequent expression of proinflammatory genes such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-
and interleukin (IL)-1β. Similarly, neurons in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures (OHSCs) from LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mouse brain were less susceptible to KA-induced excitotoxicity compared with wild-type OHSCs, due in part to decreased TNF-
and IL-1β expression. Based on these data, we concluded that IKK/nuclear factor-
B dependent microglia activation contributes to KA-induced hippocampal neuronal cell death in vivo through induction of inflammatory mediators.
Key Words: excitotoxicity; hippocampus; IKKβ; kainic acid; microglia
Abbreviations:
CA1, cornu ammonis 1; CA3, cornu ammonis 3; CD11b, cluster of differentiation molecule 11b; GFAP, glial fibrillary acidic protein; HMGB-1, high-mobility group box-1; Iba-1, ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule-1; IL-1β, interleukin-1β; IKK, I
B kinase; IR, immunoreactive; KA, kainic acid; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; MCAO, middle cerebral artery occlusion; NF-
B, nuclear factor-kappa B; NG2, neuron-glial antigen 2; OHSCs, organotypic hippocampal slice cultures; PI, propidium iodide; PM
, peritoneal macrophages; TLR, toll-like receptor; TNF-
, tumour necrosis factor-
; tPA, tissue plasminogen activator
.
Received March 11, 2008. Revised July 18, 2008. Accepted August 27, 2008.
| Introduction |
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Excitotoxicity is a mechanism that contributes to neuronal cell death following acute neuronal damage, including traumatic brain injury and stroke, and is implicated in chronic neurodegenerative diseases (Doble, 1999
, secreted by activated glial cells during excitotoxic brain damage, was found to protect hippocampal neurons from oxidative stress. Additionally, activated microglia have been shown to release neurotrophic factors, which promote neuronal survival against excitotoxic neuronal damage (Elkabes et al., 1996
It is well known that nuclear factor-
B (NF-
B) activation plays a critical role in the microglial production of proinflammatory genes including TNF-
, interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) (Jana et al., 2001
; Rasley et al., 2002
; Moriyama et al., 2006
). Upon stimulation, NF-
B is activated by I
B kinase (IKK) complex, in a manner dependent mainly on the IKKβ catalytic subunit (Karin, 1999
). It was previously documented that NF-
B is activated in microglia in excitotoxic brain injury (Matsuoka et al., 1999
; Acarin et al., 2000
). This may account for inflammatory cytokine expression by microglia during excitotoxic neurodegeneration. Therefore, we reasoned that by deleting the Ikkβ gene in microglial cells, we might be able to inhibit inflammatory microglia activation. Further, by using these mice in an excitotoxic brain injury model, we can address the in vivo role of microglia activation in excitotoxin-induced neuronal cell death. We tested this hypothesis by using LysM-Cre/Ikkβ-floxed (LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F) mice, in which the Ikkβ gene was specifically deleted in cells of myeloid origin, including the microglia in the CNS (Greten et al., 2004
).
| Materials and Methods |
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Animals and genotyping
Myeloid cell type-specific Ikkβ-deficient (LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F) mice were generated by breeding Ikkβ-floxed (IkkβF/F) mice and LysM-Cre knock-in mice expressing Cre under the control of endogenous lysozyme M promoter as previously described (Clausen et al., 1999
Primary glial culture from neonates and cortical neuron culture
Primary microglia cultures were prepared as previously described (Lee et al., 2000
). Briefly, mixed glial cultures were prepared from postnatal day 1–3 wild-type and LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice. After removing meninges from the cerebral hemispheres, tissue was dissociated into a single-cell suspension by gentle trituration. Cells were cultured in glial culture media (DMEM supplemented with 10 mM HEPES, 10% FBS, 2 mM L-glutamine and 1x antibiotic/antimycotic) in 75 cm2 flasks at 37°C in a 5% CO2 incubator and the medium was changed every 5 days. Microglia were harvested from mixed glial cultures on day 14. After shaking at 200 r.p.m. for 4 h on an orbital shaker, the media from the cultures was collected and centrifuged at 800g for 10 min. Microglia were plated in glial culture media. After 30 min, dishes were washed with medium to remove unattached astrocytes. The purity of microglia was routinely monitored and was >98% as determined by histochemical staining with cluster of differentiation molecule 11b (CD11b) (1 : 200, Serotec Inc., Oxford, UK). After shaking on day 14, adherent cells were trypsinized and allowed to re-attach for 30 min. Unattached astrocytes were transferred to a new plate and cultured in glial culture medium. The purity of astrocytes in this culture was >95% by glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) (1 : 10 000; DAKO, Denmark) immunostaining, and the remaining cells were identified as microglia or oligodendrocytes. Primary cortical neurons were prepared from E17 mouse embryos as previously described (Brewer et al., 1993
). Microglia from adult or neonate mouse brains were prepared as described elsewhere (Slepko and Levi, 1996
), and peritoneal macrophages (PM
) were prepared as described previously (Pfeiffer et al., 2001
).
Determination of loss of the IkkβF allele at the genomic level by real-time PCR
Genomic DNA (100 ng in 4 µl) was prepared from each sample, and mixed with SYBR Green PCR Master Mix (10 µl, Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA), primers (1 µl at 10 µM each) and H2O (5 µl). Real-time PCR was performed for 40 cycles of 95°C for 15 s and 60°C for 1 min using an ABI 7500 Real Time PCR System (Applied Biosystems, CA, USA). Primers, 5'-AAG ATG GGC AAA CTG TGA TGT G-3' and 5'-CAT ACA GGC ATC CTG CAG AAC A-3', were used to amplify the IkkβF allele, and primers, 5'-GGT GCA TGG TGT GTG AAG AC-3' and 5'-CAT GCA TAC TAC CGC CAC AC-3', were used to amplify the Tnfr1 gene as a control. The ratio of Ikkβ
and IkkβF signal was calculated after normalization to the Tnfr1 signal.
Real-time RT–PCR
Real-time RT–PCR was performed using SYBR Green PCR Master Mix as previously described (Lee et al., 2004
). Reactions were performed in duplicate in a total volume of 10 µl, each containing 10 pM primer, 4 µl cDNA and 5 µl SYBR Green PCR Master Mix. The mRNA levels of each target gene were normalized to that of GAPDH mRNA. Fold-induction was calculated using the 2–
CT method as previously described (Livak and Schmittgen, 2001
). All real-time RT–PCR experiments were performed at least three times, and the mean ± SEM values have been presented unless otherwise noted. The primer sequence information can be found in the Supplementary materials.
Stereotaxic injection and tissue processing
For intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of KA, 8- to 12-week-old male wild-type and LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice (22–25 g) were anesthetized by pentobarbital sodium (30 mg/kg, body weight, i.p.) and placed on a stereotaxic apparatus (Myneurolab, MO, USA). Animals were injected with PBS or KA (0.2 µg in 4.0 µl of PBS) at the speed of 0.5 µl/min into the right ventricle using a 26-G needle (stereotaxic coordinates in millimetre with reference to the bregma: AP, –2.0; ML, –2.9; DV, –3.8). After 5 min, the needle was removed with three intermediate steps over 3 min to minimize backflow, and the incision was cleaned with saline and sutured. Animals were kept on a warm pad until recovery. On either day 1 or day 3 after surgery, brains were removed from the mice after perfusion, immersed for 12 h in 4% PFA fixative at 4°C and serially cryoprotected in 10, 20 and 30% sucrose in PBS for 48 h at 4°C. Serial coronal sections (30 µm thickness) were cut on a cryostat and collected as free-floating sections in PBS. Sections were stored at –20°C until needed for histochemical studies.
Evaluating neuronal damage
For Nissl staining, hippocampal tissue sections were mounted on gelatin-coated slides, dried for 1 day at RT and stained with 0.5% cresyl violet. The numbers of cornu ammonis (CA) 1 and 3 neurons were counted at three levels of the dorsal hippocampus. Specifically, alternate sections were obtained at 1.6, 1.9 and 2.2 mm posterior to the bregma, and two regions from each level (six regions for each animal) were used to count cells in the CA1 region. The number of intact neurons within the CA1 layer was counted using a light microscope (BX51, Olympus, Japan) at 400x magnification and expressed as the number of CA1 neurons per millimeter of linear length as described previously (Choi et al., 2005
). To maintain consistency across animals, a rectangular box (1.0 x 0.25 mm) was centred over the CA1 cell layer beginning 1.0 mm lateral to the midline and 0.5 mm medial to the CA2 subfield. Only neurons with normal visible nuclei were counted. The mean number of CA1 neurons per millimeter of linear length of the ipsilateral hemispheres was calculated for each treatment group. The number of CA3 pyramidal neurons was also counted under light microscope as described previously (Hernandez-Sanchez et al., 2001
). Cell counts were made in a defined area (1.0 mm x 0.75 mm) centred over the CA3 region using three sections per brain. All assessments of histological sections were blindly performed.
Immunohistochemistry and quantitative analysis
Immunohistochemical analysis was performed as previously described (Park et al., 2006
), and detailed methods can be found in the Supplementary materials. To perform quantitative analysis of CD11b and GFAP immunostaining, 3–4 sections per animal were selected and images were captured and analysed using MetaMorph software (Universal Imaging, PA, USA). One or two fields (200 µm x 200 µm or 100 µm x 100 µm) in each slide within the midpoint of hippocampal CA1 and CA3 regions encompassing all layers were selected for quantification, and the intensity of CD11b and GFAP immunoreactivity was evaluated by means of a relative optical density value. To quantify CD11b+/NG2+ cells, images were captured under a confocal laser scanning microscopy. The entire quantifying procedure was blindly performed.
Organotypic hippocampal slice cultures
Organotypic hippocampal slice cultures (OHSCs) were prepared and maintained as described previously (Jung et al., 2004
). After 14 days in culture, slices were exposed to 50 µM KA following the previously reported protocol (Kristensen et al., 2001
). Neuronal degeneration was quantified by the uptake of propidium iodide (PI) into the damaged cells (Macklis and Madison, 1990
). To evaluate the effects of cytokines on KA-induced neuronal cell death, cultures were co-treated with KA and TNF-
/IL-1β or anti-TNF-
/IL-1β antibodies (R & D Systems, MN, USA) for 3 h, and then, incubated in recovery medium for 24 h with or without cytokines or blocking antibodies. Detailed methods can be found in the Supplementary materials.
Hippocampal EEG analysis
Methods for hippocampal electroencephalography (EEG) after KA injection are presented in Supplementary materials.
Transient middle cerebral artery occlusion
Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion (MCAO) was performed as previously described (Kim et al., 2004
). Detailed methods can be found in the Supplementary materials.
Statistical analysis
The statistical significance of the differences between wild-type and LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice was determined by Student's t-test or ANOVA with a Fisher's post hoc test. All data are presented as mean ± SEM. Differences were considered significant when P < 0.05.
| Results |
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The Ikkβ gene is deleted in microglial cells of LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice
Previously, we reported that the Ikkβ gene is tissue-specifically deleted in myeloid cells of LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice, in which the Cre transgene is constitutively expressed in cells of myeloid origin (Park et al., 2002
40% of the microglial cells lost Ikkβ alleles. Similarly, LPS-induced expression of proinflammatory genes such as TNF-
, IL-1β, iNOS, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) was decreased by 30–60% (Fig. 1D). These data demonstrate that cultured microglial cells from LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice are less responsive to LPS stimulation. Since microglial cell cultures are derived from neonates, it is possible that the deletion rate may not represent the Ikkβ deletion rate in adult mice in vivo. To test this, we harvested microglial cells directly from adult mice using a previously reported procedure (Slepko and Levi, 1996
(Fig. 1E), which is consistent with a previous study (Greten et al., 2004
20% (data not shown), which is higher than the deletion rate in adult mouse microglia in vivo, but still lower than the rate in primary cultured microglia. These results show that Ikkβ is more easily deleted in primary cultured microglia, which are in a more activated state than microglia in vivo (Eder et al., 1999
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KA-induced death of hippocampal neurons is reduced in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice
To determine the in vivo role of IKKβ-mediated microglial cell activation in excitotoxin-induced hippocampal neuronal cell death, we introduced KA directly into the brains of wild-type and LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice. The i.c.v. KA introduction is a well-established excitotoxicity model that induces behavioural manifestations of seizures in mice and selective hippocampal cell death (Cho et al., 2003
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KA-induced glial cell activation is reduced in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice
To assess the effects of Ikkβ deletion on KA-treated hippocampal glial cells, activation of microglia and astrocytes was analysed by immunohistochemistry using anti-Iba-1 and anti-GFAP antibodies, respectively (Figs 3 and 4). In PBS-treated wild-type mice, ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule-1 (Iba-1)-immunoreactive (IR) microglia were in their resting form (Fig. 3A–C). In KA-injected wild-type mice, along with hippocampal neuronal loss, the number of Iba-1-IR cells was remarkably increased in both the CA1 and CA3 regions of the ipsilateral hippocampus (Fig. 3D–F). Iba-1-IR microglia showed activated cell morphology, with enlarged cell bodies and thicker processes. In KA-injected LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice, however, microglia activation was notably suppressed. There were fewer Iba-1-IR cells, and their morphology was more ramified (Fig. 3G–I). Quantitatively, Iba-1 expression was decreased by 30% (Fig. 3J). The suppression of microglial activation in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice was also confirmed by measuring the CD11b mRNA levels (Fig. 3K). The extent of microglial activation in the hippocampus was well correlated with the rate of neuronal loss in the adjacent region (data not shown). Similarly, astrocyte activation in the ipsilateral hippocampus after KA-treatment was also attenuated in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice compared with wild-type mice (Fig. 4A–K). These results show that microglia-specific Ikkβ deletion suppresses KA-induced microglia activation in the hippocampus in vivo and that microglia activation may influence astrocyte activation.
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Microglial IKKβ deletion is responsible for the attenuation of KA-induced hippocampal neuronal cell death
Our results from LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice suggest that microglia-specific Ikkβ deletion decreases KA-induced hippocampal neuronal cell death. However, they do not rule out the possibility that other myeloid cells such as macrophages or neutrophils from the periphery are involved, since the Ikkβ gene is also deleted in these cell types (Greten et al., 2004
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To further exclude the contribution of blood-derived macrophages or neutrophils, we adopted an OHSC system, and tested the effects of Ikkβ deletion in microglia on excitotoxicity ex vivo. Hippocampal slices from wild-type and LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice were maintained in culture medium for 2 weeks prior to KA stimulation to eliminate any blood-derived macrophages or neutrophils (Fig. 6A). Stimulated cultures were evaluated using cellular uptake of PI as a measure of excitotoxic neuronal damage. Immediately after a 3 h exposure to KA (0 h of recovery), the fluorescence values of PI uptake in the CA1 and CA3 areas were slightly increased to 21.1 ± 3.2% and 11.5 ± 2.7%, respectively, in wild-type OHSCs, and similar levels of PI uptake were detected in the LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F OHSCs (Fig. 6D, E, H and I). Upon 24 h recovery after KA exposure, PI uptake in the CA1 and CA3 regions of wild-type OHSCs was further increased to 42.5 ± 5.5% and 25.5 ± 4.7%, respectively. However, in OHSCs from LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice, the increase in PI uptake during the recovery period was significantly attenuated compared with wild-type: it increased to only 25.6 ± 3.6% and 17.1 ± 2.6%, respectively (Fig. 6F–I). In control OHSCs, however, a slightly higher level of basal PI uptake was detected in slices from LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice. Taken together, these data argue that Ikkβ deletion in microglia is responsible for the attenuation of KA-induced hippocampal neuronal cell death and that the IKKβ/NF-
B signalling pathway in microglia may play an important role in KA-induced excitotoxicity in the hippocampus.
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KA-induced proinflammatory gene expression is reduced in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice
In an attempt to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the difference in excitotoxic susceptibility of wild-type and LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice, we measured the mRNA expression levels of proinflammatory NF-
B-target genes such as TNF-
, IL-1β and iNOS in the hippocampus. These genes have been implicated in excitotoxic hippocampal neuronal cell death (De Simoni et al., 2000
, IL-1β and iNOS in the hippocampi of KA-stimulated wild-type mice increased 12-, 35- and 3-fold, respectively (Fig. 7). KA-induced expression of these proinflammatory genes in hippocampi of LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice, however, was attenuated by 30–50%. These data demonstrate that KA-induced inflammatory gene expression is reduced in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice.
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TNF-
and IL-1β contribute to KA-induced hippocampal cell death in OHSCsWe then tested the effects of proinflammatory cytokines on excitotoxicity in OHSCs (Fig. 8). Treatment of KA-stimulated LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F OHSCs with TNF-
(10–40 ng/ml in CA1; 20 ng/ml in CA3) completely elevated the cell death rate to the level seen in wild-type OHSCs (Fig. 8B). Likewise, treatment with IL-1β (0.1–10 ng/ml in CA1; 5–10 ng/ml in CA3) enhanced the KA-mediated excitotoxicity in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F OHSCs (Fig. 8C). The specificity of the cytokines was confirmed using blocking antibodies against TNF-
and IL-1β in this experiment (data not shown). Furthermore, the addition of anti-TNF-
or anti-IL-1β blocking antibodies in the wild-type OHSCs reduced KA-mediated excitotoxicity by 30–60% (Fig. 8B and C). Taken together, these data suggest that TNF-
and IL-1β expression in wild-type OHSCs potentiates KA excitotoxicity, and that decreased expression of these cytokines in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F OHSCs partly accounts for the decreased KA excitotoxicity.
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Ischaemic brain damage and microglia activation after transient MCAO is reduced in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice
To verify the neuroprotective effects of microglial Ikkβ deletion in a more physiologically relevant disease model, we induced ischaemic brain damage by MCAO in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice. It is well known that excitotoxicity is one of the underlying mechanisms of ischaemic neurodegeneration (Doble, 1999
40% degeneration of the ipsilateral brain, as calculated by infarct volume (Fig. 9A and B). In LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice, however, the infarct size decreased to <10%. We then tested microglia activation after MCAO by Iba-1 immunostaining. As previously reported (Schilling et al., 2003
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| Discussion |
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To address the in vivo role of inflammatory microglia activation in excitotoxicity, we employed myeloid cell type-specific Ikkβconditional knockout (LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F) mice. In primary cultured microglia from neonate LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice, we found that the Ikkβ deletion frequency was
36%, but the deletion frequency in microglia isolated directly from adult or neonate LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice was much lower. This difference may be due to the fact that microglia are in their resting state in vivo and then become spontaneously activated during in vitro culture, resulting in upregulation of the lysozyme M gene (Ohmi et al., 2003
73% in microglia from KA-treated LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F ipsilateral hippocampus (Fig. 1E). Interestingly, we detected a higher microglial Ikkβ deletion frequency in neonate mice compared with adult mice. This implies that lysozyme M gene expression is developmentally regulated in microglia, which may also contribute to the enhanced Ikkβ deletion frequency observed in the primary cultured microglia. In addition, our in vitro data demonstrate that the Ikkβ gene is deleted in microglia, but not in astrocytes or in neurons of the LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F brain and, in the absence of IKKβ in microglia, IKKβ/NF-
B-dependent inflammatory gene expression is attenuated. These data argue that LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice can be used to investigate the in vivo role of microglia activation in excitotoxic neurodegeneration.
It should be noted that, in these mice, only partial deletion (73% maximum) of the IkkβF allele in the KA-activated hippocampal microglia population was achieved. The incomplete deletion of the IkkβF allele in the entire population of microglial cells resembles the situation in macrophages, where the IkkβF deletion rate rarely exceeded 75% in bone marrow-derived macrophages from LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice (Greten et al., 2004
). The incomplete deletion of a target gene is often a drawback of using tissue-specific conditional knockout mice. Although a study using conventional knockout mice does not face such problems, it does not provide researchers with cell type-specific information either. Indeed, it was reported that p50 knockout mice are more vulnerable to KA-induced excitotoxicity, indicating a beneficial role of NF-
B activation in these mice (Yu et al., 1999
). However, such effects were attributed mainly to NF-
B activation in neurons, but not in microglia. Similarly, the neuroprotective function of microglial activation was suggested in a recent study using MyD88 knockout mice (Simard and Rivest, 2007
), in which the effects of MyD88 deletion in microglia versus non-microglial cells could not be differentiated. Our in vivo data, however, indicate that IKKβ deletion in microglia exerts protective effects against KA-induced excitotoxic hippocampal neuronal cell death. Thus far, several reports have suggested a neurotoxic role of microglia in excitotoxicity. However, most of these studies are based on circumstantial evidence supported by in vitro experiments using cultured microglia. In this regard, our study using Ikkβ conditional knockout mice, conclusively demonstrates the in vivo role of the IKK/NF-
B-mediated microglia activation in excitotoxicity.
Interestingly, the attenuation of excitotoxicity in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice was not statistically significant 1 day after injection, but was substantial 3 days after i.c.v. administration of KA (Fig. 2). It has been reported that introduction of KA into the brain induces excitotoxicity through two different mechanisms. Primary hippocampal damage is induced within 24 h by KA-mediated seizure activity, while further delayed neuronal cell death follows this initial damage after 2–3 days (Doble, 1999
). The absence of any significant difference in terms of hippocampal EEG activity argues against that reduced neuronal death in the knockout mice is due to reduced seizures in these mice. Rather, our data suggest that IKKβ-mediated microglia activation contributes to delayed excitotoxic neurodegeneration in the later stage. These results are consistent with those of previous reports showing that inflammatory mediators contribute to excitotoxic neurodegeneration at later stages (Giulian and Vaca, 1993
). Notably, we observed attenuation of glial cell activation not only in microglia, but also in astrocytes of LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice (Fig. 4A–K). Considering that Ikkβ is deleted only in microglia, it is likely that KA-induced astrocyte activation is secondary to microglia activation.
Thus far, it is not clear how microglia become activated upon KA stimulation. Although direct microglial activation by KA has been reported (Noda et al., 2000
), we were not able to detect any proinflammatory gene expression after KA treatment of cultured hippocampal glial cells (data not shown). Therefore, it is more likely that microglia are indirectly activated by KA-damaged neurons. In this regard, it is of interest that high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB-1), a non-histone DNA-binding protein, was recently reported to be released by damaged neurons in the ischaemic brain, thus activating microglia (Kim et al., 2006
). It has also been documented that HMGB-1 exerts its cytokine-like function by activating toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 and 4 on innate immune cells (Park et al., 2004
). In the CNS, TLR2 and 4 are constitutively expressed on microglia (Olson and Miller, 2004
). Considering that IKK/NF-
B activation is a major downstream signal of TLR, it is tempting to speculate that, in our excitotoxicity model, microglia are activated by TLR binding to HMGB-1 released from KA-damaged hippocampal neurons. This can be addressed in future studies using TLR2- or 4-deficient mice.
It should be noted that, in this study, we did not find direct in vivo evidence that the reduction in neuronal loss in the knockout mice was due to IKKβ deletion in microglia, since IKKβ in these mice was also deleted in other myeloid lineage cells. However, indirect evidence suggests microglia-specific effects on excitotoxicity. First, in immunohistochemistry tests, we did not observe a statistically significant reduction in macrophage infiltration in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice after KA administration. More importantly, neurons in OHSCs from LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice were relatively resistant to the KA-induced excitotoxicity. In such an OHSC model, the effects of blood-derived myeloid cells were minimized, since hippocampal slices were cultured in vitro without blood supply for 2 weeks before the experiment. Considering these data, we concluded that microglia-specific IKKβ deletion plays a major role in the attenuation of excitotoxicity.
In ex vivo experiments, excitotoxic hippocampal cell death was reduced by 30–40% in the OHSCs of LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice, which is reminiscent of the reduction rate in vivo. However, the kinetics of the cell death were dissimilar. In the in vivo system, we did not observe a statistically significant difference in the cell death rate between wild-type and LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice 24 h after KA injection, whereas in OHSCs, the decrease in cell death was prominent after 24 h of recovery (Figs 2 and 6
). This can be simply attributed to the temporal difference in KA accessibility to hippocampal neurons in vivo versus ex vivo. Alternatively, this can be explained by the difference in the deletion rate of Ikkβ at the time of stimulation. Since hippocampal slices were prepared from neonate mice, it is likely that the microglial Ikkβ deletion rate of OHSCs is higher than the in vivo rate of adult mice, which may account for the difference.
To elucidate the basis of neurotoxic effects of IKKβ activation, we monitored the expression of several putative neurotoxic mediators that can be induced upon IKKβ activation in microglia. KA-induced TNF-
, IL-1β and iNOS gene expression was reduced in the ipsilateral hippocampus of LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice (Fig. 7). In addition, exogenous addition of TNF-
and IL-1β to LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F OHSCs enhanced their excitotoxic susceptibility (Fig. 8). These data imply that IKKβ-dependent expression of these inflammatory cytokines may be, at least in part, responsible for the delayed excitotoxicity. The neurotoxic effects of IL-1β and iNOS in excitotoxicity are well documented (Hara et al., 1997
). Likewise, TNF-
has been implicated as a critical mediator of neuronal cell death in cerebral ischaemia (Meistrell et al., 1997
). However, it has also been reported that TNF-
expression during excitotoxic damage plays a neuroprotective role (Cheng et al., 1994
). Furthermore, TNF receptor-deficient mice are more susceptible to excitotoxic brain injury, which also suggests a neuroprotective role of TNF-
in vivo (Bruce et al., 1996
). Thus far, there is no clear explanation for these discrepancies. It should be noted, however, that the TNF receptor gene is deleted in all brain cells of the knockout mice, including neurons and glia, from early development. In LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice, however, TNF-
production is altered only in microglia and only after excitotoxic brain injury, which may account for the different results. Moreover, deletion of microglial Ikkβ reduced the expression of other inflammatory mediators. Therefore, the neurotoxic effects of microglial activation might be due to the concerted effects of various IKKβ target genes. In our study, we measured expression of proinflammatory cytokines in vivo, but confirmed their neurotoxic effects ex vivo using OHSCs. Therefore, it is formally possible that another IKKβ-dependent gene not tested in this study contributes to delayed neuronal cell death in vivo. For instance, microglial production of tPA has been proposed as a major player in delayed type excitotoxicity. However, in our system, there were no significant differences in mRNA expression of this gene after KA stimulation between wild-type and LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice (data not shown).
Finally, our data from MCAO model suggest that the neuroprotective role of microglial Ikkβ deletion is involved in a more physiological neurodegeneration. Interestingly, the attenuation rate of brain damage in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice in a MCAO model was much higher than in a KA-excitotoxicity model. It has been documented that peripheral immune cells such as macrophages and neutrophils infiltrate the brain parenchyma after ischaemic brain injury, which contributes to neurodegeneration (Schroeter et al., 1994
; Villa et al., 2007
). In LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice, Ikkβ is also deleted in monocytes and neutrophils (Greten et al., 2004
). Therefore, it is possible that the decrease in infarct size in LysM-Cre/IkkβF/F mice is not only due to microglial Ikkβ deletion, but also to Ikkβ deletion in peripheral immune cells, which may account for the difference in the inhibition rate between ischaemic injury versus KA-excitotoxicity. In this study, we did not delve further into the relative contribution of the Ikkβ deletion in peripheral immune cells versus microglia in the MCAO model.
In summary, we demonstrated, in this study, that microglia-specific IKKβ activation potentiates KA-induced excitotoxic hippocampal neuronal cell death. These results suggest that IKKβ-dependent inflammatory cytokine expression in microglia contributes to the potentiation of excitotoxic injury.
| Supplementary material |
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Supplementary material is available at Brain online.
| Footnotes |
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*These authors contributed equally to this work.
| Acknowledgements |
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Neurobiology Research Program at the Korea Ministry of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea (M10412000014-07N1200-01410); Korea Research Foundation Grant (KRF-2005-070-C00096). National Institutes of Health grants for Knockout mouse generation in San Diego (ES04151, ES006376 and AI043477); Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD, KRF-2006-351-E00016 to I.-H.Cho).
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