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Reduction of Amyloid Burden by Proliferated Homeostatic Microglia in <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i>-Infected Alzheimer’s Disease Model Mice
oleh: Ji-Hun Shin, Young Sang Hwang, Bong-Kwang Jung, Seung-Hwan Seo, Do-Won Ham, Eun-Hee Shin
Format: | Article |
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Diterbitkan: | MDPI AG 2021-03-01 |
Deskripsi
In this study, we confirmed that the number of resident homeostatic microglia increases during chronic <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> infection. Given that the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) worsens with the accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ) plaques, which are eliminated through microglial phagocytosis, we hypothesized that <i>T. gondii</i>-induced microglial proliferation would reduce AD progression. Therefore, we investigated the association between microglial proliferation and Aβ plaque burden using brain tissues isolated from 5XFAD AD mice (AD group) and <i>T. gondii</i>-infected AD mice (AD + Toxo group). In the AD + Toxo group, amyloid plaque burden significantly decreased compared with the AD group; conversely, homeostatic microglial proliferation, and number of plaque-associated microglia significantly increased. As most plaque-associated microglia shifted to the disease-associated microglia (DAM) phenotype in both AD and AD + Toxo groups and underwent apoptosis after the lysosomal degradation of phagocytosed Aβ plaques, this indicates that a sustained supply of homeostatic microglia is required for alleviating Aβ plaque burden. Thus, chronic <i>T. gondii</i> infection can induce microglial proliferation in the brains of mice with progressed AD; a sustained supply of homeostatic microglia is a promising prospect for AD treatment.