TY - JOUR
T1 - Female and male microglia are not different in the dentate gyrus of postnatal day 10 mice
AU - Guez-Barber, Danielle
AU - Colon, Lorianna M.
AU - Raphael, Dana
AU - Wragan, Max A.
AU - Yun, Sanghee
AU - Eisch, Amelia J.
N1 - Funding Information:
DGB is supported by the Division of Neurology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), “Remapping the Clinical Neurosciences through Translation and Innovation Training” (2T32NS091008; co-PIs: Jensen, Aguirre), several avenues of support from the CHOP Research Institute (the Supplemental Support for Clinicians to Pursue Research Training in Neuroscience, a Foerderer Award for Excellence, a K-Readiness Faculty Pilot Program Award), the Alavi-Dabiri Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from CHOP’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, and the Child Neurologist Career Development Program CNCDP-K12 (NS098482, PI: Schlaggar). LMC is supported by the CHOP Postdoctoral Diversity Fellowship. HMP and MW were supported by the University of Pennsylvania’s (Penn) Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF). DR was also supported by CURF as well as by funds from being named a Penn Department of Neuroscience Scholar. SY is supported by a 2019 NARSAD Young Investigator Grant from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, a 2020 University of Pennsylvania Undergraduate Research Foundation grant, an NIH R01 grant (NS088555-05, PI: AM Stowe), a 2021 NASA HERO grant (80NSSC21K0814), and a Foerderer Award for Excellence from CHOP. AJE and this work are also supported by Bridge Funding from the CHOP Research Institute, an NIH R01 grant (NS088555-05, PI: AM Stowe), and a research grant from the Peter F. McManus Charitable Trust. We are indebted to Sharon Xie for biostatistical guidance, F. Chris Bennett, Graham Peet, and Mariko Bennett for microglia imaging advice and discussions, Margaret McCarthy for discussions on microglia and sex differences in early life, and Kelly Jordan-Sciutto’s group for permission to use their imaging set-up in the initial stage of this project. Thanks to many Eisch Lab members and colleagues for helpful discussions and guidance, in particular Lyles R. Clark and Fred C. Kiffer, and to Ruthie E. Wittenberg for input and editing. We thank Haley M. Phillips and Kira Lu for preliminary help with early data analysis.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023
PY - 2023/4/23
Y1 - 2023/4/23
N2 - Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, support normal brain function and the brain's response to disease and injury. The hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) is important for microglial study due to its central role in many behavioral and cognitive functions. Interestingly, microglia and related cells are distinct in female vs. male rodents, even in early life. Indeed, postnatal day (P)-dependent sex differences in number, density, and morphology of microglia have been reported in certain hippocampal subregions at specific ages. However, sex differences in the DG have not yet been assessed at P10, a translationally relevant time point as the rodent neuroanatomical eqivalent of human term gestation. To address this knowledge gap, Iba1+ cells in the DG (which are enriched in the Hilus and Molecular Layer) in female and male C57BL/6J mice were analyzed for their number (via stereology) and density (via stereology and via sampling). Next, Iba1+ cells were classified into morphology categories previously established in the literature. Finally, the percent of Iba1+ cells in each morphology category was multiplied by total cell number to generate a total number of Iba1+ cells in each category. Results show no sex difference in Iba1+ cell number, density, or morphology in the P10 Hilus or Molecular Layer. The lack of sex difference in Iba1+ cells in P10 DG using commonly-employed methodologies (sampling, stereology, morphology classification) provides a baseline from which to interpret microglia changes seen after injury.
AB - Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, support normal brain function and the brain's response to disease and injury. The hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) is important for microglial study due to its central role in many behavioral and cognitive functions. Interestingly, microglia and related cells are distinct in female vs. male rodents, even in early life. Indeed, postnatal day (P)-dependent sex differences in number, density, and morphology of microglia have been reported in certain hippocampal subregions at specific ages. However, sex differences in the DG have not yet been assessed at P10, a translationally relevant time point as the rodent neuroanatomical eqivalent of human term gestation. To address this knowledge gap, Iba1+ cells in the DG (which are enriched in the Hilus and Molecular Layer) in female and male C57BL/6J mice were analyzed for their number (via stereology) and density (via stereology and via sampling). Next, Iba1+ cells were classified into morphology categories previously established in the literature. Finally, the percent of Iba1+ cells in each morphology category was multiplied by total cell number to generate a total number of Iba1+ cells in each category. Results show no sex difference in Iba1+ cell number, density, or morphology in the P10 Hilus or Molecular Layer. The lack of sex difference in Iba1+ cells in P10 DG using commonly-employed methodologies (sampling, stereology, morphology classification) provides a baseline from which to interpret microglia changes seen after injury.
KW - Development
KW - Hippocampus
KW - Iba1
KW - Immunohistochemistry
KW - Sex differences
KW - Stereology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150229452&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85150229452&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.neulet.2023.137171
DO - 10.1016/j.neulet.2023.137171
M3 - Article
C2 - 36898652
AN - SCOPUS:85150229452
SN - 0304-3940
VL - 803
JO - Neuroscience letters
JF - Neuroscience letters
M1 - 137171
ER -