International Immunology, Vol 10, 935-941, Copyright © 1998 by Oxford University Press
CA White, PA McCombe and MP Pender
Morphological studies have shown that macrophages and microglia undergo
apoptosis in the central nervous system (CNS) in acute experimental
autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in the Lewis rat. To assess the relative
levels of macrophage and microglial apoptosis, and the molecular mechanisms
involved in this process, we used three-colour flow cytometry to identify
CD45lowCD11b/c+ microglial cells and CD45highCD11b/c+ macrophages in the
inflammatory cells isolated from the spinal cords of Lewis rats 13 days
after immunization with myelin basic protein (MBP) and complete Freund's
adjuvant. Simultaneously, we analyzed the DNA content of these cell
populations to assess the proportions of cells undergoing apoptosis and in
different stages of the cell cycle or examined their expression of three
apoptosis- regulating proteins, i.e. Fas (CD95), Fas ligand (FasL) and
Bcl-2. Microglia were highly vulnerable to apoptosis and were
over-represented in the apoptotic population. Macrophages were less
susceptible to apoptosis than microglia and underwent mitosis more
frequently than microglia. The different susceptibilities of microglia and
macrophages to apoptosis did not appear to be due to variations in Fas,
FasL or Bcl- 2 expression, as the proportions of microglia and macrophages
expressing these proteins were similar, and were relatively high.
Furthermore, in contrast to T cell apoptosis, apoptosis of
microglia/macrophages did not occur more frequently in cells expressing Fas
or FasL, or less frequently in cells expressing Bcl-2. These results
indicate that the apoptosis of microglia and CNS macrophages in EAE is not
mediated through the Fas pathway, and that Bcl-2 expression does not
protect them from apoptosis. Expression of FasL by macrophages and
microglia may contribute to the pathogenesis and immunoregulation of EAE
through interactions with Fas+ oligodendrocytes and Fas+ T cells. The high
level of microglial apoptosis in EAE indicates that microglial apoptosis
may be an important homeostatic mechanism for controlling the number of
microglia in the CNS following microglial activation and proliferation.
ARTICLES
Microglia are more susceptible than macrophages to apoptosis in the central nervous system in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis through a mechanism not involving Fas (CD95)
Department of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Australia.
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