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PMID: 11245686 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Regulation of microglial development: a novel role for thyroid hormone.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience ·Vol. 21 ·No. 6 ·2001-03-15 ·Pages 2028-38

Lima FR, Gervais A, Colin C, Izembart M, Neto VM, Mallat M

Abstract

The postnatal development of rat microglia is marked by an important increase in the number of microglial cells and the growth of their ramified processes. We studied the role of thyroid hormone in microglial development. The distribution and morphology of microglial cells stained with isolectin B4 or monoclonal antibody ED1 were analyzed in cortical and subcortical forebrain regions of developing rats rendered hypothyroid by prenatal and postnatal treatment with methyl-thiouracil. Microglial processes were markedly less abundant in hypothyroid pups than in age-matched normal animals, from postnatal day 4 up to the end of the third postnatal week of life. A delay in process extension and a decrease in the density of microglial cell bodies, as shown by cell counts in the developing cingulate cortex of normal and hypothyroid animals, were responsible for these differences. Conversely, neonatal rat hyperthyroidism, induced by daily injections of 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3), accelerated the extension of microglial processes and increased the density of cortical microglial cell bodies above physiological levels during the first postnatal week of life. Reverse transcription-PCR and immunological analyses indicated that cultured cortical ameboid microglial cells expressed the alpha1 and beta1 isoforms of nuclear thyroid hormone receptors. Consistent with the trophic and morphogenetic effects of thyroid hormone observed in situ, T3 favored the survival of cultured purified microglial cells and the growth of their processes. These results demonstrate that thyroid hormone promotes the growth and morphological differentiation of microglia during development.

MeSH Terms
Animals Brain/cytology,drug effects,growth & development Cell Count Cell Division/drug effects Cell Survival/drug effects Cells, Cultured Female Hyperthyroidism/chemically induced,metabolism Hypothyroidism/chemically induced,metabolism Iodine/deficiency Methylthiouracil/pharmacology Microglia/cytology,drug effects,metabolism Pregnancy Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects Rats Rats, Wistar Receptors, Thyroid Hormone/biosynthesis Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction Thyroid Hormones/metabolism,pharmacology Triiodothyronine/metabolism,pharmacology
Chemicals
Receptors, Thyroid Hormone Thyroid Hormones Triiodothyronine Iodine Methylthiouracil
Authors & Affiliations
6 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Lima F R
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U.495, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France.
Gervais A
Colin C
Izembart M
Neto V M
Mallat M
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Article Info
Journal
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Abbr.
J Neurosci
ISSN
1529-2401
Published
2001-03-15
Pages
2028-38
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
8102140
PMCID
PMC6762591
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source PMC Full Text View journal details
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