CC chemokine receptor 2 deficiency aggravates cognitive impairments and amyloid pathology in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

G Naert, S Rivest - Journal of Neuroscience, 2011 - Soc Neuroscience
G Naert, S Rivest
Journal of Neuroscience, 2011Soc Neuroscience
Circulating monocytoid cells have the ability to infiltrate nervous tissue, differentiate into
microglia, and clear amyloid-β (Aβ) from the brain of mouse models of Alzheimer's disease.
Interaction between the chemokine CCL2 and its CC chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) plays a
critical role in the recruitment of inflammatory monocytes into the injured/diseased brain.
Here, we show that CCR2 deficiency aggravates mnesic deficits and amyloid pathology in
transgenic mice expressing the chimeric mouse/human β-amyloid precursor protein and …
Circulating monocytoid cells have the ability to infiltrate nervous tissue, differentiate into microglia, and clear amyloid-β (Aβ) from the brain of mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. Interaction between the chemokine CCL2 and its CC chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) plays a critical role in the recruitment of inflammatory monocytes into the injured/diseased brain. Here, we show that CCR2 deficiency aggravates mnesic deficits and amyloid pathology in transgenic mice expressing the chimeric mouse/human β-amyloid precursor protein and presenilin 1 (APPSwe/PS1). Indeed, memory impairment was accelerated and enhanced in APPSwe/PS1/CCR2−/− mice. Apparition of cognitive decline occurred earlier (i.e., at 3 months of age before plaque formation) and correlated with intracellular accumulation of soluble oligomeric forms of Aβ. Memory deficits worsened with age and were aggravated in APPSwe/PS1/CCR2−/− mice compared with their respective control groups. Soluble Aβ assemblies increased significantly in APPSwe/PS1 mice in a context of CCR2 deficiency, whereas the plaque load remained relatively similar in the brain of aging APPSwe/PS1 and APPSwe/PS1/CCR2−/− mice. However, CCR2 deficiency stimulated the expression of TGF-β1, TGF-β receptors, and CX3CR1 transcripts in plaque-associated microglia, a pattern that is characteristic of an antiinflammatory subset of myeloid cells. A decreased expression of CCR2 could play a potential role in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease, a neurodegenerative pathology that could be treated by a genetic upregulation of the transgene in monocytoid cells.
Soc Neuroscience