APOE modulates microglial immunometabolism in response to age, amyloid pathology, and inflammatory challenge.

The E4 allele of Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is associated with both metabolic dysfunction and a heightened pro-inflammatory response: two findings that may be intrinsically linked through the concept of immunometabolism. Here, we combined bulk, single-cell, and spatial transcriptomics with cell-specific and spatially resolved metabolic analyses in mice expressing human APOE to systematically address the role of APOE across age, neuroinflammation, and AD pathology. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) highlighted immunometabolic changes across the APOE4 glial transcriptome, specifically in subsets of metabolically distinct microglia enriched in the E4 brain during aging or following an inflammatory challenge.

drives transcriptional heterogeneity and maladaptive immunometabolic responses of astrocytes.

Apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) is the strongest risk allele associated with the development of late onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). Across the CNS, astrocytes are the predominant expressor of while also being critical mediators of neuroinflammation and cerebral metabolism. APOE4 has been consistently linked with dysfunctional inflammation and metabolic processes, yet insights into the molecular constituents driving these responses remain unclear.

Effects of advanced age upon astrocyte-specific responses to acute traumatic brain injury in mice.

Background: Older-age individuals are at the highest risk for disability from a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Astrocytes are the most numerous glia in the brain, necessary for brain function, yet there is little known about unique responses of astrocytes in the aged-brain following TBI.

Methods: Our approach examined astrocytes in young adult, 4-month-old, versus aged, 18-month-old mice, at 1, 3, and 7 days post-TBI.

The Blood And Clot Thrombectomy Registry And Collaboration (BACTRAC) protocol: novel method for evaluating human stroke.

Background: Ischemic stroke research faces difficulties in translating pathology between animal models and human patients to develop treatments. Mechanical thrombectomy, for the first time, offers a momentary window into the changes occurring in ischemia. We developed a tissue banking protocol to capture intracranial thrombi and the blood immediately proximal and distal to it.