Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Microglia-Like Cells Harboring TREM2 Missense Mutations Show Specific Deficits in Phagocytosis
Summary
Dysfunction of microglia, the brain's immune cells, is linked to neurodegeneration. Homozygous missense mutations in TREM2 cause Nasu-Hakola disease (NHD), an early-onset dementia. To study the consequences of these TREM2 variants, we generated induced pluripotent stem cell-derived microglia-like cells (iPSC-MGLCs) from patients with NHD caused by homozygous T66M or W50C missense mutations. iPSC-MGLCs expressed microglial markers and secreted higher levels of TREM2 than primary macrophages. TREM2 expression and secretion were reduced in variant lines. LPS-mediated cytokine secretion was comparable between control and TREM2 variant iPSC-MGLCs, whereas survival was markedly reduced in cells harboring missense mutations when compared with controls. Furthermore, TREM2 missense mutations caused a marked impairment in the phagocytosis of apoptotic bodies, but not in Escherichia coli or zymosan substrates. Coupled with changes in apoptotic cell-induced cytokine release and migration, these data identify specific deficits in the ability of iPSC-MGLCs harboring TREM2 missense mutations to respond to specific pathogenic signals. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
| Authors | Garcia-Reitboeck P, Phillips A, Piers TM, Villegas-Llerena C, Butler M, Mallach A, Rodrigues C, Arber CE, Heslegrave A, Zetterberg H, Neumann H, Neame S, Houlden H, Hardy J, Pocock JM |
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| Journal | Cell reports |
| Publication Date | 2018 Aug 28;24(9):2300-2311 |
| PubMed | 30157425 |
| PubMed Central | PMC6130048 |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.07.094 |