Effects of advanced age upon astrocyte-specific responses to acute traumatic brain injury in mice (original) (raw)
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Exacerbated glial response in the aged mouse hippocampus following controlled cortical impact injury
Experimental Neurology, 2008
Old age is associated with enhanced susceptibility to and poor recovery from brain injury. An exacerbated microglial and astrocyte response to brain injury might be involved in poor outcomes observed in the elderly. The present study was therefore designed to quantitate the expression of markers of microglia and astrocyte activation using real-time RT-PCR, immunoblot and immunohistochemical analysis in aging brain in response to brain injury. We examined the hippocampus, a region that undergoes secondary neuron death, in aged (21-24 month) and adult (5-6 month) mice following controlled cortical impact (CCI) injury to the sensorimotor cortex. Basal mRNA expression of CD11b and Iba1, markers of activated microglia, was higher in aged hippocampus as compared to the adult. The mRNA expression of microglial markers increased and reached maximum 3 days post injury in both adult and aged mice, but was higher in the aged mice at all time points studied, and in the aged mice the return to baseline levels was delayed. Basal mRNA expression of GFAP and S100B, markers of activated astrocytes, was higher in aged mice. Both markers increased and reached maximum 7 days post injury. The mRNA expression of astrocyte markers returned to near basal levels rapidly after injury in the adult mice, whereas again in the aged mice return to baseline was delayed. Immunochemical analysis using Iba1 and GFAP antibodies indicate accentuated glial responses in the aged hippocampus after injury. The pronounced and prolonged activation of microglia and astrocytes in hippocampus may contribute to worse cognitive outcomes in the elderly following TBI.
Molecular correlates of age-specific responses to traumatic brain injury in mice
Experimental gerontology, 2006
Aged traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients suffer higher rates of mortality and disability than younger patients. Cognitive problems common to TBI patients are associated with damage to the hippocampus, a central locus of learning and memory. To investigate the molecular mechanisms of age-related vulnerability to brain injury in a mouse model of TBI, we studied the effects of TBI on hippocampal gene expression in young and aged mice. Young and aged male C57Bl/6 mice were subjected to sham injury or TBI and sacrificed 24 h post-injury. We used laser capture microdissection to obtain pure populations of neurons from the CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus subfields of the hippocampus. We compared injury-induced gene expression in hippocampal neurons of young and aged mice using quantitative ribonuclease protection assay analysis of linearly amplified mRNA from laser captured neurons. Both increased age and TBI were associated with increased expression of neuroprotective (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), pro-inflammatory (interleukin-1b), and proapoptotic (caspase-3) genes in mouse hippocampal neurons. Our data support previous reports that suggested the CA3 subregion is highly susceptible to fluid percussion TBI and that age-related changes in gene expression are one potential mechanism of increased vulnerability of the aged brain to TBI.
Early loss of astrocytes after experimental traumatic brain injury
Glia, 2003
fluid percussion; traumatic brain injury; immunohistochemistry; glial fibrillary acidic protein; hippocampus ABSTRACT Neuronal-glial interactions are important for normal brain function and contribute to the maintenance of the brain's extracellular environment. Damage to glial cells following traumatic brain injury (TBI) could therefore be an important contributing factor to brain dysfunction and neuronal injury. We examined the early fate of astrocytes and neurons after TBI in rats. A total of 27 rats were euthanized at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, or 24 h after moderate lateral fluid percussion TBI or after sham TBI. Ipsilateral and contralateral hippocampi were examined in coronal sections from Ϫ2.12 to Ϫ4.80 mm relative to bregma. Adjacent sections were processed with markers for either astrocytes or degenerating neurons. Astrocytes were visualized using glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) or glutamine synthetase immunohistochemistry. Neuronal degeneration was visualized using Fluoro-Jade (FJ) histofluorescence. At 30 min, there was a significant loss of GFAP immunoreactivity in ipsilateral hippocampal CA3 with some loss of normal astrocyte morphology in the remaining cells. The number of normal staining astrocytes decreased progressively over time with extensive astrocyte loss at 24 h. At 4 h, lightly stained FJ-positive neurons were scattered in the ipsilateral CA3. The intensity and number of FJ-positive neurons progressively increased over time with moderate numbers of degenerating neurons in the ipsilateral hippocampal CA3 evident at 24 h. We conclude that astrocyte loss occurs in the hippocampus early after TBI. The data suggest that loss of supporting glial cell may contribute to subsequent neuronal degeneration.
Biopathology of astrocytes in human traumatic and complicated brain injuries. Review and hypothesis
Folia Neuropathologica, 2015
The biopathology of astrocyte cells in severe human brain traumatic injuries complicated with subdural and epidural haematoma and hygroma is reviewed. Clear and dense oedematous and hypertrophic reactive astrocytes are distinguished in severe primary traumatic vasogenic and secondary cytotoxic brain oedema. Swollen perineuronal astrocytes appear compressing and indenting clear and dark degenerated pyramidal and non-pyramidal nerve cells, degenerated myelinated axons and synaptic contacts. Hypertrophic astrocytes display dense cytoplasm and contain numerous rosettes of alpha, beta-and gamma-type glycogen granules, swollen mitochondria, dilated smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum, oedematous Golgi apparatus, microtubules, gliofilaments, intermediate filaments, lysosomes and liposomes. The perisynaptic astrocyte ensheathment of synaptic contacts, containing beta type-glycogen granules, can be traced in the neuropil, surrounding swollen, bead-shaped dendritic profiles, and degenerated myelinated axons. This perisynaptic glial layer is absent in severe oedematous regions. The glycogen-rich and glycogendepleted perivascular astrocyte end-feet appear attached or dissociated from the capillary basement membrane. Phagocytic astrocytes can be seen engulfing degenerated synaptic contacts, necrotic membranes, degenerated myelinated axons, and myelin ovoids. Lipofuscin-rich astrocytes are also observed. The interastrocytary gap junctions appear either widened, fused or fragmented. The key role of aquaporin in astrocyte swelling and brain oedema is emphasized. The findings are compared with those reported in experimental traumatic animal models, a large variety of pathogenetically related neuropathological conditions, and in vivo and in vitro experimental conditions. The contribution of pathological astrocytes to neurobehavioral disorders, such as loss of consciousness, neurological deficits and seizures is emphasized. Some hypotheses are postulated related to the dissociated or absent perisynaptic layer, neurobiology of glycogen-rich and glycogen-depleted perivascular astrocytes, the glio-basal dissociation process, abnormal astrocyte-neuronal unit, and astrocyte participation in seizures in patients with severe and complicated brain injuries.
Juvenile mild traumatic brain injury elicits distinct spatiotemporal astrocyte responses
Glia, 2019
Mild-traumatic brain injury (mTBI) represents~80% of all emergency room visits and increases the probability of developing long-term cognitive disorders in children. To date, molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying post-mTBI cognitive dysfunction are unknown. Astrogliosis has been shown to significantly alter astrocytes' properties following brain injury, potentially leading to significant brain dysfunction. However, such alterations have never been investigated in the context of juvenile mTBI (jmTBI). A closed-head injury model was used to study jmTBI on postnatal-day 17 mice. Astrogliosis was evaluated using glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), vimentin, and nestin immunolabeling in somatosensory cortex (SSC), dentate gyrus (DG), amygdala (AMY), and infralimbic area (ILA) of prefrontal cortex in both hemispheres from 1 to 30 days postinjury (dpi). In vivo T2-weighted-imaging (T2WI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were performed at 7 and 30 dpi to examine tissue level structural alterations. Increased GFAP-labeling was observed up to 30 dpi in the ipsilateral SSC, the initial site of the impact. However, vimentin and nestin expression was not perturbed by jmTBI. The morphology of GFAP positive cells was significantly altered in the SSC, DG, AMY, and ILA up to 7 dpi that some correlated with magnetic resonance imaging changes. T2WI and DTI values were significantly altered at 30 dpi within these brain regions most prominently in regions distant from the impact site. Our data show that jmTBI triggers changes in astrocytic phenotype with a distinct spatiotemporal pattern. We speculate that the presence and time course of astrogliosis may contribute to pathophysiological processes and long-term structural alterations following jmTBI.
Frontiers in Neurology, 2021
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can occur at any age, from youth to the elderly, and its contribution to age-related neuropathology remains unknown. Few studies have investigated the relationship between age-at-injury and pathophysiology at a discrete biological age. In this study, we report the immunohistochemical analysis of naïve rat brains compared to those subjected to diffuse TBI by midline fluid percussion injury (mFPI) at post-natal day (PND) 17, PND35, 2-, 4-, or 6-months of age. All brains were collected when rats were 10-months of age (n = 6–7/group). Generalized linear mixed models were fitted to analyze binomial proportion and count data with R Studio. Amyloid precursor protein (APP) and neurofilament (SMI34, SMI32) neuronal pathology were counted in the corpus callosum (CC) and primary sensory barrel field (S1BF). Phosphorylated TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (pTDP-43) neuropathology was counted in the S1BF and hippocampus. There was a significantly greater extent of APP and ...
Aquaporin-4 Expression in Cultured Astrocytes after Fluid Percussion Injury
The development of cytotoxic brain edema resulting in increased intracranial pressure is a major cause of death occurring in the early phase of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Such edema predominantly develops as a consequence of astrocyte swelling. We recently documented that fluid percussion injury (FPI) to cultured astrocytes causes cell swelling. Since aquaporin-4 (AQP4) has been strongly implicated in the development of brain edema/astrocyte swelling in various neurological conditions, this study examined the effect of in vitro trauma on AQP4 protein expression in cultured astrocytes. Exposure of astrocytes to FPI resulted in a significant upregulation of AQP4 protein in the plasma membrane due to neosynthesis, as cycloheximide blocked the trauma-induced AQP4 upregulation. Silencing the aqp4 gene by siRNA resulted in a significant reduction in trauma-induced astrocyte swelling, indicating a critical role of AQP4 in this process. We recently documented that oxidative/nitrative stress (ONS), the mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT), and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), contribute to trauma-induced astrocyte swelling in culture. We now show that inhibition of these factors reduces the upregulation of AQP4 following trauma. Since TBI has been shown to activate nuclear factorkappa B (NF-jB), as well as the Na+ ,K + ,Cl - co-transporter (NKCC), both of which are implicated in brain edema/ astrocyte swelling in other conditions, we also examined the effect of BAY 11-7082 and bumetanide, inhibitors of NF-jB and NKCC, respectively, and found that these agents also significantly inhibited the trauma-inducedAQP4 upregulation. Our findings show that in vitro trauma upregulates AQP4, and that ONS, MAPKs, mPT, NF-jB, and NKCC are involved in its upregulation.
Astroglia: Important mediators of traumatic brain injury
Progress in Brain Research, 2007
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) research to date has focused almost exclusively on the pathophysiology of injured neurons with very little attention paid to non-neuronal cells. However in the past decade, exciting discoveries have challenged this century-old view of passive glial cells and have led to a reinterpretation of the role of glial cells in central nervous system (CNS) biology and pathology. In this chapter we review several lines of evidence, indicating that glial cells, particularly astrocytes, are active partners to neurons in the brain, and summarize recent findings that detail the significance of astrocyte pathology in traumatic brain injury.
Developmental Neuroscience, 2010
was significantly greater in the adult relative to the P21 group. While the adult group showed no further change in cortical volumes, there was a significant loss of cortical volumes between 2 and 5 weeks after injury in the P21 group, reaching values similar to that of the adult group by 5 weeks after injury. Together, these findings demonstrate age-dependent temporal patterns of leukocyte infiltration and loss of cortical volume after TBI.