TRANSCRIPTOME ANALYSIS OF AMOEBOID AND RAMIFIED MICROGLIA ISOLATED FROM THE CORPUS CALLOSUM OF RAT BRAIN

Abstract

Microglia, the innate immune-cells of the central nervous system (CNS) have two distinct phenotypes: amoeboid and ramified. In the present study, expression profiles of amoeboid (AMC) and ramified (RMC) microglial cells isolated from the corpus callosum of rat brain and were analyzed. This transcriptome profiling has led to the identification of genes that may be vital in regulating microglial proliferation, differentiation, migration and several important functions. Sirtuin3 (Sirt3), a gene known to regulate reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, was found to be highly expressed in the AMC, but not in the RMC. Further, its expression level was increased in activated microglial cells both in vivo and in vitro. To study the functional relevance of Sirt3 in microglia, knockdown and overexpression of Sirt3 was carried out in BV-2 microglial cell line. The results obtained from the present study show that Sirt3 is an important mediator of ROS in microglia.