INTERLUKIN 12 AND INTERLEUKIN 18 GENE ADMINISTRATION INDUCES LEUKOCYTE RECRUITMENT AND ACTIVATION OF MICROGLIA IN THE BRAIN

RODRIGUEZ-GALAN, MC; GAVIGLIO, EA; SORIA, JA; BARRIOS, B; ARROYO, DS; IRIBARREN, P

Florencia

Congreso; 8th IBRO, World Congress of Neuroscience; 2011

Interlukin 12 and Interleukin 18 gene administration induces leukocyte recruitment and activation of microglia in the brain. Rodriguez-Galan, Maria Cecilia; Gaviglio, Emilia; Soria, Javier; Bibiana Barrios; Arroyo, Daniela; Iribarren, Pablo CIBICI-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba. Argentina. Microglial cells (MC) are key immune cells within the central nervous system (CNS). They participate in CNS homeostasis and become activated once they contact pro-inflammatory signals. Some CNS injuries are accompanied by cell infiltration. The recruitment of inflammatory cells could contribute to tissue damage and to induce persistent activation of MC. Systemic administration of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which generates a systemic pro-inflammatory cytokines storm, induces brain inflammation and leukocyte recruitment to the CNS. Here, we evaluated the impact of hydrodynamic injection of expression vectors (naked cDNA) encoding for the cytokines IL-12 and IL-18, on brain MC activation and leukocyte recruitment. Hydrodynamic injection of IL-12 and IL-18 cDNAs has previously been reported to induce high and persistent systemic levels of IL-12, IL-18 as well as IFNgamma and TNFalpha C57BL6 mice were injected intravenously by hydrodynamic shear with the cDNAs for IL-12 alone, IL-12 plus IL-18 or the control plasmid. Seven days after the injections, mice were sacrificed perfussed with HBSS and brains were collected. Cells suspensions were obtained for brain inflammatory cells analysis using four color flow cytometry. Data demonstrated that both, IL-12 alone and IL-12 plus IL-18 cDNA expression induced recruitment of leukocytes (p