title: T cells promote the regeneration of neural precursor cells in the hippocampus of Alzheimer's disease mice.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease is closely associated with disorders of neurogenesis in the brain, and growing evidence supports the involvement of immunological mechanisms in the development of the disease. However, at present, the role of T cells in neuronal regeneration in the brain is unknown. We injected amyloid-beta 1-42 peptide into the hippocampus of six BALB/c wild-type mice and six BALB/c-nude mice with T-cell immunodeficiency to establish an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. A further six mice of each genotype were injected with same volume of normal saline. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the number of regenerated neural progenitor cells in the hippocampus of BALB/c wild-type mice was significantly higher than that in BALB/c-nude mice. Quantitative fluorescence PCR assay showed that the expression levels of peripheral T cell-associated cytokines (interleukin-2, interferon-γ) and hippocampal microglia-related cytokines (interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α) correlated with the number of regenerated neural progenitor cells in the hippocampus. These results indicate that T cells promote hippocampal neurogenesis in Alzheimer's disease and T-cell immunodeficiency restricts neuronal regeneration in the hippocampus. The mechanism underlying the promotion of neuronal regeneration by T cells is mediated by an increased expression of peripheral T cells and central microglial cytokines in Alzheimer's disease mice. Our findings provide an experimental basis for understanding the role of T cells in Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China ; Department of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Yuxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Sumin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Mengmeng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Yaqiong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Dachuan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; NSFC grant; beta-amyloid 1–42 peptide; interferon-gamma; interleukin-1β; interleukin-2; mice; microglia; microtubule associated protein; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; neurodegeneration; neuronal precursors; tumor necrosis factor-α