Microglia Dependent Development of Neuronal Circuits in the Cerebellum

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K18342
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Neurophysiology / General neuroscience
• Research Institution: Hiroshima University
• Principal Investigator: Nakayama Hisako 広島大学, 医歯薬保健学研究院(医), 助教 (70397181)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: ミクログリア / 小脳 / 神経回路形成 / 発達 / プルキンエ細胞 / 登上線維 / シナプス再編成

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We investigated whether microglia was crucial for the development of cerebellar neuronal circuits We studied whether and how microglia contribute to climbing fiber (CF) synapse elimination in the developing cerebellum. By ablating microglia from the developing cerebellum pharmacologically and genetically, we found that microglia was needed for CF synapse elimination during the second postnatal week. We observed almost no sign of microglia engulfing CFs, suggesting that microglia contribute to CF synapse elimination in a mechanism other than phagocytosis. Instead, synapses which have been reported to be crucial for the CF synapse elimination were affected in transgenic mice with reduced microglia. These results suggest that microglia contribute to CF synapse elimination through regulating synaptic input to Purkinje cells.

Free Research Field

神経科学