The TREM2-APOE Pathway Drives the Transcriptional Phenotype of Dysfunctional Microglia in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Susanne Krasemann, Charlotte Madore, Ron Cialic, Caroline Baufeld, Narghes Calcagno, Rachid El Fatimy, Lien Beckers, Elaine O'Loughlin, Yang Xu, Zain Fanek, David J. Greco, Scott T. Smith, George Tweet, Zachary Humulock, Tobias Zrzavy, Patricia Conde-Sanroman, Mar Gacias, Zhiping Weng, Hao Chen, Emily TjonFargol Mazaheri, Kristin Hartmann, Asaf Madi, Jason D. Ulrich, Markus Glatzel, Anna Worthmann, Joerg Heeren, Bogdan Budnik, Cynthia Lemere, Tsuneya Ikezu, Frank L. Heppner, Vladimir Litvak, David M. Holtzman, Hans Lassmann, Howard L. Weiner, Jordi Ochando, Christian Haass, Oleg Butovsky*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1646 Scopus citations

Abstract

Microglia play a pivotal role in the maintenance of brain homeostasis but lose homeostatic function during neurodegenerative disorders. We identified a specific apolipoprotein E (APOE)-dependent molecular signature in microglia from models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS), and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in microglia surrounding neuritic β-amyloid (Aβ)-plaques in the brains of people with AD. The APOE pathway mediated a switch from a homeostatic to a neurodegenerative microglia phenotype after phagocytosis of apoptotic neurons. TREM2 (triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2) induced APOE signaling, and targeting the TREM2-APOE pathway restored the homeostatic signature of microglia in ALS and AD mouse models and prevented neuronal loss in an acute model of neurodegeneration. APOE-mediated neurodegenerative microglia had lost their tolerogenic function. Our work identifies the TREM2-APOE pathway as a major regulator of microglial functional phenotype in neurodegenerative diseases and serves as a novel target that could aid in the restoration of homeostatic microglia. Microglia change their phenotype and function during aging and neurodegeneration, but the underlying molecular mechanisms for this change remain unknown. Krasemann et al. identify the TREM2-APOE pathway as a major regulator of microglia phenotypic change in neurodegenerative diseases and suggest that targeting this pathway could restore homeostatic microglia.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)566-581.e9
JournalImmunity
Volume47
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 19 Sep 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • APOE
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • TREM2
  • amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
  • microglia
  • multiple sclerosis
  • neurodegeneration
  • transcriptional regulation

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