Regional topographical differences of canine microglial immunophenotype and function in the healthy spinal cord

Ensinger, Eva-Maria; Boekhoff, Theda M.A.; Carlson, Regina; Beineke, Andreas; Rohn, Karl; Tipold, Andrea; Stein, Veronika M.

doi:10.1016/j.jneuroim.2010.07.017

« Previous Next »Journal of Neuroimmunology
Volume 227, Issue 1 , Pages 144-152, 8 October 2010

Regional topographical differences of canine microglial immunophenotype and function in the healthy spinal cord

Eva-Maria Ensinger
- Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bünteweg 9, D-30559 Hannover, Germany
- These authors contributed equally to the publication.
Theda M.A. Boekhoff
- Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bünteweg 9, D-30559 Hannover, Germany
- These authors contributed equally to the publication.
Regina Carlson
- Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bünteweg 9, D-30559 Hannover, Germany
Andreas Beineke
- Department of Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bünteweg 17, D-30559 Hannover, Germany
Karl Rohn
- Institute of Biometry, Epidemiology, and Information Processing, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bünteweg 2, D-30559 Hannover, Germany
Andrea Tipold
- Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bünteweg 9, D-30559 Hannover, Germany
Veronika M. Stein
- Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bünteweg 9, D-30559 Hannover, Germany
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 511 953 6202; fax: +49 511 953 6204.

Received 22 April 2010; received in revised form 7 July 2010; accepted 20 July 2010. published online 23 August 2010.

Abstract

Differences in the regulation of surface molecule expression and functional activity of microglia, the resident immune effector elements of the central nervous system (CNS), might give important insights into understanding the predilection sites of some diseases within the CNS. Therefore, canine microglial cells in relation to different topographical regions within the healthy CNS were evaluated ex vivo from the brain, cervical, and thoracolumbar spinal cord using density gradient centrifugation and flow cytometry in a homogenous dog population.

Immunophenotypical characterization showed physiological regional differences for B7-1, CD14, CD44, CD1c, CD18, CD11b, and CD11c. Both, phagocytosis and ROS generation revealed differences between the brain, cervical, and thoracolumbar spinal cord.

Our results emphasize that microglia displays physiological topographical regional differences within the CNS. The dog seems to be an ideal model to further investigate the role of microglia in focal pathological conditions of the spinal cord.

Keywords: Canine spinal cord, Microglia, ROS, Phagocytosis, Immunophenotypic characterization, Regional differences