Microglia and Astroglia: key clues for motor restauration?

FALOMIR-LOCKHART, EUGENIA; DOLCETTI, FRANCO JUAN CRUZ; MILLAN, JULIETA; HEREÑU, CLAUDIA B.; BELLINI, MARIA JOSE

CABA

Congreso; Second FALAN Congress. XXXI Annual Congress of the Argentinean Society for Research in Neuroscience; 2016

Federación de Asociaciones Latinoamericanas y del Caribe de Neurociencias / Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

The increase in average life expectancy is accompanied by an increment in the incidence of degenerative diseases associated with age. A typical characteristic of aging is a chronic inflammation, which is characterized by a marked rise in the production of proinflammatory cytokines and inflammation markers. Many studies have demonstrated that neuroinflammation mediated by microglia and astroglia plays a key role in both neuronal survival and death. Moreover, an adequate regulation of neuroinflammation is essential to prevent the progression of neurodegenerative diseases.Our group has previously described that ICV IGF-1 gene therapy induced a significant improvement in motor performance in aged rats. It is well known that IGF-1 plays a physiological role in neuroprotection. We propose that restorative effects of IGF-1 in motor skills could be mediated by glial cells.In this project, we implemented ICV IGF-1 gene therapy in aged rats, assessed the motor performance. We determined the cell number of glial cells in striatum and analyzed their morphology and reactivity.Results: IGF-1 treatment restored motor coordination and limb grip strength in aged rats. We observed a significant increase in the microglial cells number in experimental rats, accompanied by a significant increment in their reactivity, presenting a higher percentage of M2 phenotype number. Regarding astrocytes, though we did not observed a significant difference in the cell number, experimental rats showed a more complex phenotype.