Visualization and genetic modification of resident brain microglia using lentiviral vectors regulated by microRNA-9
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Olle Lindvall; Johan Jakobsson; Katie Z. Chapman; Luis Quintino; Cecilia Lundberg; Malin Åkerblom; Erika Elgstrand Wettergren; Rohit Sachdeva; Giuseppe Manfré
- Source
- Nature Communications. 4
- Subject
- Aging
Rodent
Transgene
Genetic Vectors
Down-Regulation
General Physics and Astronomy
Mice, Transgenic
Biology
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Rat striatum
Mice
Neural Stem Cells
Proviruses
Downregulation and upregulation
biology.animal
microRNA
medicine
Animals
Transgenes
Multidisciplinary
Microglia
Lentivirus
Brain
General Chemistry
Rat brain
Neural stem cell
Rats
Cell biology
MicroRNAs
medicine.anatomical_structure
Genetic Techniques
nervous system
Immunology
Female
- Language
- ISSN
- 2041-1723
Functional studies of resident microglia require molecular tools for their genetic manipulation. Here we show that microRNA-9-regulated lentiviral vectors can be used for the targeted genetic modification of resident microglia in the rodent brain. Using transgenic reporter mice, we demonstrate that murine microglia lack microRNA-9 activity, whereas most other cells in the brain express microRNA-9. Injection of microRNA-9-regulated vectors into the adult rat brain induces transgene expression specifically in cells with morphological features typical of ramified microglia. The majority of transgene-expressing cells colabels with the microglia marker Iba1. We use this approach to visualize and isolate activated resident microglia without affecting circulating and infiltrating monocytes or macrophages in an excitotoxic lesion model in rat striatum. The microRNA-9-regulated vectors described here are a straightforward and powerful tool that facilitates functional studies of resident microglia.