Transcriptional profiling and therapeutic targeting of oxidative stress in neuroinflammation.

Oxidative stress is a central part of innate immune-induced neurodegeneration. However, the transcriptomic landscape of central nervous system (CNS) innate immune cells contributing to oxidative stress is unknown, and therapies to target their neurotoxic functions are not widely available. Here, we provide the oxidative stress innate immune cell atlas in neuroinflammatory disease and report the discovery of new druggable pathways. Transcriptional profiling of oxidative stress-producing CNS innate immune cells identified a core oxidative stress gene signature coupled to coagulation and glutathione-pathway genes shared between a microglia cluster and infiltrating macrophages. Tox-seq followed by a microglia high-throughput screen and oxidative stress gene network analysis identified the glutathione-regulating compound acivicin, with potent therapeutic effects that decrease oxidative stress and axonal damage in chronic and relapsing multiple sclerosis models. Thus, oxidative stress transcriptomics identified neurotoxic CNS innate immune populations and may enable discovery of selective neuroprotective strategies.

Author Correction: Transcriptional profiling and therapeutic targeting of oxidative stress in neuroinflammation.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Fibrin drives thromboinflammation and neuropathology in COVID-19.

Life-threatening thrombotic events and neurological symptoms are prevalent in COVID-19 and are persistent in patients with long COVID experiencing post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection1-4. Despite the clinical evidence1,5-7, the underlying mechanisms of coagulopathy in COVID-19 and its consequences in inflammation and neuropathology remain poorly understood and treatment options are insufficient. Fibrinogen, the central structural component of blood clots, is abundantly deposited in the lungs and brains of patients with COVID-19, correlates with disease severity and is a predictive biomarker for post-COVID-19 cognitive deficits1,5,8-10. Here we show that fibrin binds to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, forming proinflammatory blood clots that drive systemic thromboinflammation and neuropathology in COVID-19. Fibrin, acting through its inflammatory domain, is required for oxidative stress and macrophage activation in the lungs, whereas it suppresses natural killer cells, after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Fibrin promotes neuroinflammation and neuronal loss after infection, as well as innate immune activation in the brain and lungs independently of active infection. A monoclonal antibody targeting the inflammatory fibrin domain provides protection from microglial activation and neuronal injury, as well as from thromboinflammation in the lung after infection. Thus, fibrin drives inflammation and neuropathology in SARS-CoV-2 infection, and fibrin-targeting immunotherapy may represent a therapeutic intervention for patients with acute COVID-19 and long COVID.

Fibrinogen inhibits sonic hedgehog signaling and impairs neonatal cerebellar development after blood-brain barrier disruption.

Cerebellar injury in preterm infants with central nervous system (CNS) hemorrhage results in lasting neurological deficits and an increased risk of autism. The impact of blood-induced pathways on cerebellar development remains largely unknown, so no specific treatments have been developed to counteract the harmful effects of blood after neurovascular damage in preterm infants. Here, we show that fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein, plays a central role in impairing neonatal cerebellar development. Longitudinal MRI of preterm infants revealed that cerebellar bleeds were the most critical factor associated with poor cerebellar growth. Using inflammatory and hemorrhagic mouse models of neonatal cerebellar injury, we found that fibrinogen increased innate immune activation and impeded neurogenesis in the developing cerebellum. Fibrinogen inhibited sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling, the main mitogenic pathway in cerebellar granule neuron progenitors (CGNPs), and was sufficient to disrupt cerebellar growth. Genetic fibrinogen depletion attenuated neuroinflammation, promoted CGNP proliferation, and preserved normal cerebellar development after neurovascular damage. Our findings suggest that fibrinogen alters the balance of SHH signaling in the neurovascular niche and may serve as a therapeutic target to mitigate developmental brain injury after CNS hemorrhage.

BMP receptor blockade overcomes extrinsic inhibition of remyelination and restores neurovascular homeostasis.

Extrinsic inhibitors at sites of blood-brain barrier disruption and neurovascular damage contribute to remyelination failure in neurological diseases. However, therapies to overcome the extrinsic inhibition of remyelination are not widely available and the dynamics of glial progenitor niche remodelling at sites of neurovascular dysfunction are largely unknown. By integrating in vivo two-photon imaging co-registered with electron microscopy and transcriptomics in chronic neuroinflammatory lesions, we found that oligodendrocyte precursor cells clustered perivascularly at sites of limited remyelination with deposition of fibrinogen, a blood coagulation factor abundantly deposited in multiple sclerosis lesions. By developing a screen (OPC-X-screen) to identify compounds that promote remyelination in the presence of extrinsic inhibitors, we showed that known promyelinating drugs did not rescue the extrinsic inhibition of remyelination by fibrinogen. In contrast, bone morphogenetic protein type I receptor blockade rescued the inhibitory fibrinogen effects and restored a promyelinating progenitor niche by promoting myelinating oligodendrocytes, while suppressing astrocyte cell fate, with potent therapeutic effects in chronic models of multiple sclerosis. Thus, abortive oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation by fibrinogen is refractory to known promyelinating compounds, suggesting that blockade of the bone morphogenetic protein signalling pathway may enhance remyelinating efficacy by overcoming extrinsic inhibition in neuroinflammatory lesions with vascular damage.

Transient Cnp expression by early progenitors causes Cre-Lox-based reporter lines to map profoundly different fates.

NG2 expressing oligodendroglial precursor cells are ubiquitous in the central nervous system and the only cell type cycling throughout life. Previous fate mapping studies have remained inconsistent regarding the question whether NG2 cells are capable of generating certain types of neurons. Here, we use CNP-Cre mice to map the fate of a sub-population of NG2 cells assumed to be close to differentiation. When crossing these mice with the ROSA26/YFP Cre-reporter line we discovered large numbers of reporter-expressing pyramidal neurons in the piriform and dorsal cortex. In contrast, when using Z/EG reporter mice to track the fate of Cnp-expressing NG2 cells only oligodendroglial cells were found reporter positive. Using BrdU-based birth dating protocols and inducible NG2CreER:ROSA26/YFP mice we show that YFP positive neurons are generated from radial glial cells and that these radial glial cells display temporary and low level activity of certain oligodendroglial genes sufficient to recombine the Cre-inducible reporter gene in ROSA26/YFP but not in Z/EG mice. Taken together, we did not obtain evidence for generation of neurons from NG2 cells. Our results suggest that with an appropriate reporter system Cnp activity can be used to define a proliferative subpopulation of NG2 cells committed to generate oligodendrocytes. However, the strikingly different results obtained from ROSA26/YFP versus Z/EG mice demonstrate that the choice of Cre-reporter line can be of crucial importance for fate mapping studies and other applications of the Cre-lox technology. GLIA 2017;65:342-359.

ApoE and immunity in Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies: Low-density lipoprotein receptor to the rescue.

In this issue of Neuron, Shi et al. (2021) show a protective role for the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) in tau pathology. Brain overexpression of LDLR lowers apolipoprotein E (apoE), suppresses microglial activation, preserves myelin, and ameliorates neurodegeneration, pointing the way toward potential new therapies.

In vivo two-photon microscopy protocol for imaging microglial responses and spine elimination at sites of fibrinogen deposition in mouse brain.

Deposition of the blood coagulation factor fibrinogen in the central nervous system is a hallmark of neurological diseases with blood-brain barrier disruption. We describe in vivo two-photon imaging of microglial responses and neuronal spine elimination to either intracortical microinjection of fibrinogen in healthy mice or to endogenously labeled fibrinogen deposits in Alzheimer's disease mice. This protocol allows the longitudinal study of glial and neuronal responses to blood proteins and can be used to test drug efficacy at the neurovascular interface. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Davalos et al. (2012), Ryu et al. (2018), and Merlini et al. (2019).

Microglial Gi-dependent dynamics regulate brain network hyperexcitability.

Microglial surveillance is a key feature of brain physiology and disease. Here, we found that Gi-dependent microglial dynamics prevent neuronal network hyperexcitability. By generating MgPTX mice to genetically inhibit Gi in microglia, we show that sustained reduction of microglia brain surveillance and directed process motility induced spontaneous seizures and increased hypersynchrony after physiologically evoked neuronal activity in awake adult mice. Thus, Gi-dependent microglia dynamics may prevent hyperexcitability in neurological diseases.

Astrocytes Are Required for Oligodendrocyte Survival and Maintenance of Myelin Compaction and Integrity.

Astrocytes have been implicated in regulating oligodendrocyte development and myelination in vitro, although their functions in vivo remain less well defined. Using a novel approach to locally ablate GFAP+ astrocytes, we demonstrate that astrocytes are required for normal CNS myelin compaction during development, and for maintaining myelin integrity in the adult. Transient ablation of GFAP+ astrocytes in the mouse spinal cord during the first postnatal week reduced the numbers of mature oligodendrocytes and inhibited myelin formation, while prolonged ablation resulted in myelin that lacked compaction and structural integrity. Ablation of GFAP+ astrocytes in the adult spinal cord resulted in the rapid, local loss of myelin integrity and regional demyelination. The loss of myelin integrity induced by astrocyte ablation was greatly reduced by NMDA receptor antagonists, both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that myelin stability was affected by elevation of local glutamate levels following astrocyte ablation. Furthermore, targeted delivery of glutamate into adult spinal cord white matter resulted in reduction of myelin basic protein expression and localized disruption of myelin compaction which was also reduced by NMDA receptor blockade. The pathology induced by localized astrocyte loss and elevated exogenous glutamate, supports the concept that astrocytes are critical for maintenance of myelin integrity in the adult CNS and may be primary targets in the initiation of demyelinating diseases of the CNS, such as Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO).

Glial cells are born with synapses.

In postnatal rodent brain, certain NG2-expressing oligodendroglial precursor cells (OPCs) are contacted by synaptic terminals from local neurons. However, it has remained elusive whether and when NG2(+) cells are integrated into neuronal circuits. Here we use patch-clamp recordings from mitotic cells in murine brain slices to show that, unlike any other cell in the central nervous system (CNS), cortical NG2(+) cells divide and relocate while being linked to synaptic junctions. Together with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling, our recordings imply that cellular processes that bear synaptic junctions are surprisingly kept during cytokinesis and are inherited by the daughter cells. Cell cycle time (78 h) and relocation speed (5 microm/day) are slowed, and NG2(+) cells largely divide symmetrically. Inheritance of synapses enables newborn glial cells to establish synaptic connections much faster than newborn neurons and ensures that the entire population of NG2(+) cells is exposed to synaptic signals from local axons. The results suggest that synapses do not only transmit neuronal activity but also act as environmental cues for the development of glial cells. Inheritance of synapses allows for the direct transfer of environmental interactions to clonal descendants of OPCs, which might be important for effective colonization and myelination of the developing brain.

Imaging the dynamic interactions between immune cells and the neurovascular interface in the spinal cord.

Imaging the dynamic interactions between immune cells, glia, neurons and the vasculature in living rodents has revolutionized our understanding of physiological and pathological mechanisms of the CNS. Emerging microscopy and imaging technologies have enabled longitudinal tracking of structural and functional changes in a plethora of different cell types in the brain. The development of novel methods also allowed stable and longitudinal optical access to the spinal cord with minimum tissue perturbation. These important advances facilitated the application of in vivo imaging using two-photon microscopy for studies of the healthy, diseased, or injured spinal cord. Indeed, decoding the interactions between peripheral and resident cells with the spinal cord vasculature has shed new light on neuroimmune and vascular mechanisms regulating the onset and progression of neurological diseases. This review focuses on imaging studies of the interactions between the vasculature and peripheral immune cells or microglia, with emphasis on their contribution to neuroinflammation. We also discuss in vivo imaging studies highlighting the importance of neurovascular changes following spinal cord injury. Real-time imaging of blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and other vascular changes, perivascular glial responses, and immune cell entry has revealed unanticipated cellular mechanisms and novel molecular pathways that can be targeted to protect the injured or diseased CNS. Imaging the cell-cell interactions between the vasculature, immune cells, and neurons as they occur in real time, is a powerful tool both for testing the efficacy of existing therapeutic approaches, and for identifying new targets for limiting damage or enhancing the potential for repair of the affected spinal cord tissue.

Contribution of the oligodendrocyte lineage to CNS repair and neurodegenerative pathologies.

The concept of the oligodendrocyte lineage as simply a source of myelinating cells in the vertebrate CNS is undergoing radical revision. Elucidation of the origins of oligodendrocytes in the CNS has led to identification of important signaling pathways, the timing and mechanism of lineage commitments and overlapping as well as redundant functionality among oligodendrocytes. The realization that a significant proportion of the oligodendrocyte lineage cells remain in a proliferative and immature state suggests they have roles other than as a reservoir of myelinating cells. While early studies were focused on understanding the development of oligodendrocytes, more recent work has begun to define the role of oligodendrocyte lineage cells in CNS functionality and the identification of new avenues for neural repair. A relatively unexplored aspect of the oligodendrocyte lineage is their contribution either directly or indirectly to the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and Alzheimer's disease. Here we briefly consider the potential role of oligodendrocyte lineage cells as mediators of neural repair and neurodegeneration in the vertebrate CNS. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled 'Oligodendrocytes in Health and Disease'.