Circulating senescent myeloid cells drive blood brain barrier breakdown and neurodegeneration

Neurodegenerative diseases (ND) are characterized by progressive loss of neuronal function. Mechanisms of ND pathogenesis are incompletely understood, hampering the development of effective therapies. Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is an inflammatory neoplastic disorder caused by hematopoietic progenitors expressing MAPK activating mutations that differentiate into senescent myeloid cells that drive lesion formation. Some patients with LCH subsequently develop progressive and incurable neurodegeneration (LCH-ND). Here, we show that LCH-ND is caused by myeloid cells that are clonal with peripheral LCH cells. We discovered that circulating BRAF V600E $^{+}$ myeloid cells cause the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), enhancing migration into the brain parenchyma where they differentiate into senescent, inflammatory CD11a $^{+}$ macrophages that accumulate in the brainstem and cerebellum. Blocking MAPK activity and senescence programs reduced parenchymal infiltration, neuroinflammation, neuronal damage and improved neurological outcome in preclinical LCH-ND. MAPK activation and senescence programs in circulating myeloid cells represent novel and targetable mechanisms of ND

Microglia maintain structural integrity during fetal brain morphogenesis

Microglia (MG), the brain-resident macrophages, play major roles in health and disease via a diversity of cellular states. While embryonic MG display a large heterogeneity of cellular distribution and transcriptomic states, their functions remain poorly characterized. Here, we uncovered a role for MG in the maintenance of structural integrity at two fetal cortical boundaries. At these boundaries between structures that grow in distinct directions, embryonic MG accumulate, display a state resembling post-natal axon-tract-associated microglia (ATM) and prevent the progression of microcavities into large cavitary lesions, in part via a mechanism involving the ATM-factor Spp1. MG and Spp1 furthermore contribute to the rapid repair of lesions, collectively highlighting protective functions that preserve the fetal brain from physiological morphogenetic stress and injury. Our study thus highlights key major roles for embryonic MG and Spp1 in maintaining structural integrity during morphogenesis, with major implications for our understanding of MG functions and brain development.</p

Ermin deficiency leads to compromised myelin, inflammatory milieu, and susceptibility to demyelinating insult

Ermin is an actin-binding protein found almost exclusively in the central nervous system (CNS) as a component of myelin sheaths. Although Ermin has been predicted to play a role in the formation and stability of myelin sheaths, this has not been directly examined in vivo. Here, we show that Ermin is essential for myelin sheath integrity and normal saltatory conduction. Loss of Ermin in mice caused de-compacted and fragmented myelin sheaths and led to slower conduction along with progressive neurological deficits. RNA sequencing of the corpus callosum, the largest white matter structure in the CNS, pointed to inflammatory activation in aged Ermin-deficient mice, which was corroborated by increased levels of microgliosis and astrogliosis. The inflammatory milieu and myelin abnormalities were further associated with increased susceptibility to immune-mediated demyelination insult in Ermin knockout mice. Supporting a possible role of Ermin deficiency in inflammatory white matter disorders, a rare inactivating mutation in the ERMN gene was identified in multiple sclerosis patients. Our findings demonstrate a critical role for Ermin in maintaining myelin integrity. Given its near-exclusive expression in myelinating oligodendrocytes, Ermin deficiency represents a compelling “inside-out” model of inflammatory dysmyelination and may offer a new paradigm for the development of myelin stability-targeted therapies

Selective resistance of dendritic cell subsets to HIV and Influenza infection

Les cellules dendritiques (DCs) détectent les particules virales et présentent les antigènes viraux afin d’organiser la réponse immunitaire. La réplication virale dans les DCs induit une réponse immune cytosolique. Comment les DCs tolèrent les virus afin de maintenir leur intégrité fonctionnelle est inconnu. Les DCs sont organisées en sous-populations distinctes d’un point de vue ontogénique. Nous avons observé que le virus du VIH et de la grippe infectaient préférentiellement les DCs CD1c+ par rapport au DCs CD141+ et aux pDCs. La réplication de ces virus au sein des DCs CD1c+ est essentielle afin d’établir une activation efficace des lymphocytes T CD8+ et d’assurer une détection cytosolique. Les DCs CD141+ et les pDCs, quant à elles, répondent aux virus exogènes. L’étape de fusion virale virale est constitutivement réduite dans les DCs CD141+ et les pDCs en comparaison des DCs CD1c+. La petite GTPase RAB15 est exprimée sélectivement dans les DCs CD141+ et les pDCs et contribue à la résistance de ces deux sous-populations de DCs au VIH et à la grippe. La résistance sélective des sous-populations de DC à l’infection virale pourrait représenter un mécanisme de tolérance afin d’augmenter la réponse antivirale.Dendritic cells (DCs) sense viral particles and present viral antigens to induce immune responses. Viruses also replicate in DCs, engaging cytosolic immune responses. How DCs tolerate viruses to ensure functional integrity is unknown. DCs are developmentally organized in distinct subsets. We find that HIV and influenza preferentially infect CD1c+ DCs over CD141+ DCs and pDCs. Replication in CD1c+ DCs was essential for efficient CD8+ T cell activation and cytosolic sensing, while CD141+ DCs and pDCs responded to exogenous virus. Viral fusion was constitutively reduced in CD141+ and pDCs compared to CD1c+ DCs. The small GTPase RAB15 expressed selectively in CD141+ and pDCs contributed to the resistance. Selective resistance of DC subset to viral infections may thus represent a tolerance mechanism to maximize antiviral responses

Constitutive Siglec-1 expression confers susceptibility to HIV-1 infection of human dendritic cell precursors

International audienc

Modeling the role of microglia during neurovascular development

Presentation at 10th World Congress: Alternatives and animal use in the life sciences Aug 201

Computational modeling of the neurovascular unit to predict microglia mediated effects on blood-brain barrier formation

Presentation at 10th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences Aug 201

Sumoylation coordinates the repression of inflammatory and anti-viral gene-expression programs during innate sensing

International audienceInnate sensing of pathogens initiates inflammatory cytokine responses that need to be tightly controlled. We found here that after engagement of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in myeloid cells, deficient sumoylation caused increased secretion of transcription factor NF-κB-dependent inflammatory cytokines and a massive type I interferon signature. In mice, diminished sumoylation conferred susceptibility to endotoxin shock and resistance to viral infection. Overproduction of several NF-κB-dependent inflammatory cytokines required expression of the type I interferon receptor, which identified type I interferon as a central sumoylation-controlled hub for inflammation. Mechanistically, the small ubiquitin-like modifier SUMO operated from a distal enhancer of the gene encoding interferon-β (Ifnb1) to silence both basal and stimulus-induced activity of the Ifnb1 promoter. Therefore, sumoylation restrained inflammation by silencing Ifnb1 expression and by strictly suppressing an unanticipated priming by type I interferons of the TLR-induced production of inflammatory cytokine

Early Fate Defines Microglia and Non-parenchymal Brain Macrophage Development

Central nervous system (CNS) macrophages comprise microglia and border-associated macrophages (BAMs) residing in the meninges, the choroid plexus, and the perivascular spaces. Most CNS macrophages emerge during development, with the exception of choroid plexus and dural macrophages, which are replaced by monocytes in adulthood. Whether microglia and BAMs share a developmental program or arise from separate lineages remains unknown. Here, we identified two phenotypically, transcriptionally, and locally distinct brain macrophages throughout development, giving rise to either microglia or BAMs. Two macrophage populations were already present in the yolk sac suggesting an early segregation. Fate-mapping models revealed that BAMs mostly derived from early erythro-myeloid progenitors in the yolk sac. The development of microglia was dependent on TGF-β, whereas the genesis of BAMs occurred independently of this cytokine. Collectively, our data show that developing parenchymal and non-parenchymal brain macrophages are separate entities in terms of ontogeny, gene signature, and requirement for TGF-β