Microglia contribute to neuronal synchrony despite endogenous ATP-related phenotypic transformation in acute mouse brain slices

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 5402 - 24
• Main Authors: Berki, Péter, Cserép, Csaba, Környei, Zsuzsanna, Pósfai, Balázs, Szabadits, Eszter, Domonkos, Andor, Kellermayer, Anna, Nyerges, Miklós, Wei, Xiaofei, Mody, Istvan, Kunihiko, Araki, Beck, Heinz, Kaikai, He, Ya, Wang, Lénárt, Nikolett, Wu, Zhaofa, Jing, Miao, Li, Yulong, Gulyás, Attila I., Dénes, Ádám
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 26.06.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 13/1; 13/51; 14/10; 14/19; 14/69; 42/35; 42/44; 631/378/2596/1953; 631/378/371; 64/110; 64/60; 9/30; 9/74; 9/97; Adenosine Triphosphate - metabolism; Animals; ATP; Brain; Brain - metabolism; Brain architecture; Brain injury; Brain slice preparation; Central nervous system; Circuits; CX3C Chemokine Receptor 1 - genetics; CX3C Chemokine Receptor 1 - metabolism; CX3CR1 protein; Damage; Genetic transformation; Genotype & phenotype; Humanities and Social Sciences; Immune system; Influence; Investigations; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Microglia; Microglia - metabolism; Modulators; multidisciplinary; Neural networks; Neuromodulation; Neurons - metabolism; Phenotype; Phenotypes; Physiology; Receptors, Purinergic P2Y12 - genetics; Receptors, Purinergic P2Y12 - metabolism; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Signal Transduction; Synapses; Synapses - metabolism; Time dependence
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49773-1

Acute brain slices represent a workhorse model for studying the central nervous system (CNS) from nanoscale events to complex circuits. While slice preparation inherently involves tissue damage, it is unclear how microglia, the main immune cells and damage sensors of the CNS react to this injury and shape neuronal activity ex vivo. To this end, we investigated microglial phenotypes and contribution to network organization and functioning in acute brain slices. We reveal time-dependent microglial phenotype changes influenced by complex extracellular ATP dynamics through P2Y12R and CX3CR1 signalling, which is sustained for hours in ex vivo mouse brain slices. Downregulation of P2Y12R and changes of microglia-neuron interactions occur in line with alterations in the number of excitatory and inhibitory synapses over time. Importantly, functional microglia modulate synapse sprouting, while microglial dysfunction results in markedly impaired ripple activity both ex vivo and in vivo. Collectively, our data suggest that microglia are modulators of complex neuronal networks with important roles to maintain neuronal network integrity and activity. We suggest that slice preparation can be used to model time-dependent changes of microglia-neuron interactions to reveal how microglia shape neuronal circuits in physiological and pathological conditions. Microglia undergo rapid phenotype changes in response to tissue disturbances but the impact of these changes on neuronal networks is unclear. Here, the authors show that microglia contribute to neuronal synchrony in acute brain slices, while their marked phenotypic transformation is influenced by injury-related focal ATP events.