title: Spatial arrangement of microglia in the mouse hippocampus: a stereological study in comparison with astrocytes.
abstract: Microglia are classically considered to be immune cells in the brain, but have now been proven to be involved in neuronal activity as well. Here we stereologically analyzed the spatial arrangement of microglia in the mouse hippocampus. First, we estimated the numerical densities (NDs) of microglia identified by ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1). Despite that microglia appeared to be evenly distributed throughout the hippocampal area, the NDs demonstrated significant dorsoventral, interregional, and interlaminar differences. Briefly, the NDs in the ventral hippocampus were significantly lower in the CA3 region than in the CA1 region and dentate gyrus, although no interregional differences were detectable in the dorsal hippocampus. Both in the CA1 and CA3 regions, the NDs were significantly higher in the stratum lacunosum-moleculare than in the remaining layers. Next, we investigated the spatial patterns of distribution of Iba1-labeled microglia and S100beta-labeled astrocytes. So far as we examined, the somato-somatic contacts were not seen among microglia or among astrocytes, whereas the close apposition between microglia and astrocytes were occasionally detected. The 3D point process analysis showed that the spatial distribution of microglia was significantly repulsive. Because the statistical territory of single microglia was larger than that estimated from process tracing, they are not likely to touch each other with their processes. Astrocytes were distributed slightly repulsively with overlapping areas. The 3D point process analysis also revealed a significant spatial attraction between microglia and astrocytes. The present findings provide a novel anatomical basis for glial research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. sjnno@med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shozo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jinno
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fleischer
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eckel
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kosaka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002450:Cell Communication; D002452:Cell Count; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000166:cytology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D007158:Immunologic Techniques; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D017628:Microglia / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D064568:S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D013194:Staining and Labeling
chemical_list: C491049:Aif1 protein, mouse; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D064568:S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit; D009418:S100 Proteins