![]() |
|
|
Vol. 18, Issue 4, 1490-1496, April 2007
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||


*Department of Biochemistry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10021; and
Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Department of Pharmacology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ 08854
Submitted November 1, 2006;
Revised January 26, 2007;
Accepted February 1, 2007
Monitoring Editor: Sandra Schmid
Microglia are the main immune cells of the brain, and under some circumstances they can play an important role in removal of fibrillar Alzheimer amyloid
peptide (fA
). Primary mouse microglia can internalize fA
, but they do not degrade it efficiently. We compared the level of lysosomal proteases in microglia and J774 macrophages, which can degrade fA
efficiently, and we found that microglia actually contain higher levels of many lysosomal proteases than macrophages. However, the microglial lysosomes are less acidic (average pH of
6), reducing the activity of lysosomal enzymes in the cells. Proinflammatory treatments with macrophage colony-stimulating factor (MCSF) or interleukin-6 acidify the lysosomes of microglia and enable them to degrade fA
. After treatment with MCSF, the pH of microglial lysosomes is similar to J774 macrophages (pH of
5), and the MCSF-induced acidification can be partially reversed upon treatment with an inhibitor of protein kinase A or with an anion transport inhibitor. Microglia also degrade fA
if lysosomes are acidified by an ammonia pulse-wash or by treatment with forskolin, which activates protein kinase A. Our results indicate that regulated lysosomal acidification can potentiate fA
degradation by microglia.
Address correspondence to: Frederick R. Maxfield (frmaxfie{at}med.cornell.edu)
Abbreviations used: DIDS, 4,4'-diisothiocyanato-stilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid; fA
, fibrillar Alzheimer amyloid
peptide; IL, interleukin; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; MCSF, macrophage colony-stimulating factor; PKA, protein kinase A.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
A. S. Haka, I. Grosheva, E. Chiang, A. R. Buxbaum, B. A. Baird, L. M. Pierini, and F. R. Maxfield Macrophages Create an Acidic Extracellular Hydrolytic Compartment to Digest Aggregated Lipoproteins Mol. Biol. Cell, December 1, 2009; 20(23): 4932 - 4940. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Mandrekar, Q. Jiang, C. Y. D. Lee, J. Koenigsknecht-Talboo, D. M. Holtzman, and G. E. Landreth Microglia Mediate the Clearance of Soluble A{beta} through Fluid Phase Macropinocytosis J. Neurosci., April 1, 2009; 29(13): 4252 - 4262. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
V. Boissonneault, M. Filali, M. Lessard, J. Relton, G. Wong, and S. Rivest Powerful beneficial effects of macrophage colony-stimulating factor on {beta}-amyloid deposition and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease Brain, April 1, 2009; 132(4): 1078 - 1092. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
H. Scholtzova, R. J. Kascsak, K. A. Bates, A. Boutajangout, D. J. Kerr, H. C. Meeker, P. D. Mehta, D. S. Spinner, and T. Wisniewski Induction of Toll-Like Receptor 9 Signaling as a Method for Ameliorating Alzheimer's Disease-Related Pathology J. Neurosci., February 11, 2009; 29(6): 1846 - 1854. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. Guhaniyogi, I. Sohar, K. Das, A. M. Stock, and P. Lobel Crystal Structure and Autoactivation Pathway of the Precursor Form of Human Tripeptidyl-peptidase 1, the Enzyme Deficient in Late Infantile Ceroid Lipofuscinosis J. Biol. Chem., February 6, 2009; 284(6): 3985 - 3997. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. S. Spinner, I. S. Cho, S. Y. Park, J. I. Kim, H. C. Meeker, X. Ye, G. LaFauci, D. J. Kerr, M. J. Flory, B. S. Kim, et al. Accelerated Prion Disease Pathogenesis in Toll-Like Receptor 4 Signaling-Mutant Mice J. Virol., November 1, 2008; 82(21): 10701 - 10708. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||