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Towards a molecular definition of microglia
Author(s) -
Moran L. B.,
Thykjaer T.,
Orntoft T. F.,
Graeber M. B.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
neuropathology and applied neurobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.538
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1365-2990
pISSN - 0305-1846
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2990.2002.39286_14.x
Subject(s) - microglia , transcriptome , biology , phenotype , microarray analysis techniques , gene expression , microarray , immune system , gene expression profiling , microbiology and biotechnology , in vitro , neuroscience , gene , immunology , inflammation , genetics
Microglia account for at least 10% of all glial cells in the CNS. Morphologically they are unique, forming highly ramified and perpendicularly branching cell processes. In response to pathological stimuli, microglia show considerable plasticity and may assume a macrophage phenotype. Here we report transcriptome data on normal rat microglial cells in vitro . Material and methods: Microglial cultures of high purity (>95%) were prepared from newborn rat brains. RNA was used for comparative expression profiling on two different Affymetrix GeneChips, the rat neurobiology U34 microarray, and the more comprehensive U34A chip. Results: Analysis of the expression data was performed using GeneSpring. Only genes exhibiting expression values >2 signal/control ratio were included. Microglia were found to express 8% (107) of the genes on the neurobiology array and 14% (1203) of the genes on the U34A chip, respectively. Among the expressed ‘functional motifs’, groups of immunomodulatory molecules including interleukin (1,18), complement and MIF featured prominently in agreement with the view that microglia represent an intrinsic immune network in the CNS. However, novel products of microglia, e.g. embigin, were also found. Conclusions: We provide a tentative molecular definition of microglia.