Publication Date
3-19-2021
Journal
iScience
DOI
10.1016/j.isci.2021.102186
PMID
33718838
PMCID
PMC7921843
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
2-12-2021
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Immunology, Developmental Biology, Transcriptomics
Abstract
Microglia are ubiquitous central nervous system (CNS)-resident macrophages that maintain homeostasis of neural tissues and protect them from pathogen attacks. Yet, their differentiation in different compartments remains elusive. We performed single-cell RNA-seq to compare microglial subtypes in the cortex and the spinal cord. A multi-way comparative analysis was carried out on samples from C57/BL and HIV gp120 transgenic mice at two, four, and eight months of age. The results revealed overlapping but distinct microglial populations in the cortex and the spinal cord. The differential heterogeneity of microglia in these CNS regions was further suggested by their disparity of plasticity in response to life span progression and HIV-1 pathogenic protein gp120. Our findings indicate that microglia in different CNS compartments are adapted to their local environments to fulfill region-specific biological functions.
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Biological Phenomena, Cell Phenomena, and Immunity Commons, Endocrine System Diseases Commons, Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism Commons, Medical Immunology Commons
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