title: NG2 glial cells regulate neuroimmunological responses to maintain neuronal function and survival.
abstract: NG2-expressing neural progenitor cells (i.e., NG2 glial cells) maintain their proliferative and migratory activities even in the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) and produce myelinating oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. Although NG2 glial cells have been observed in close proximity to neuronal cell bodies in order to receive synaptic inputs, substantive non-proliferative roles of NG2 glial cells in the adult CNS remain unclear. In the present study, we generated NG2-HSVtk transgenic rats and selectively ablated NG2 glial cells in the adult CNS. Ablation of NG2 glial cells produced defects in hippocampal neurons due to excessive neuroinflammation via activation of the interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) pro-inflammatory pathway, resulting in hippocampal atrophy. Furthermore, we revealed that the loss of NG2 glial cell-derived hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) exacerbated these abnormalities. Our findings suggest that NG2 glial cells maintain neuronal function and survival via the control of neuroimmunological function.
authors.affiliation: Cellular Function Imaging Team, Center for Life Science Technologies, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.|Department of Physiology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahimachi, Abeno-ku, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.affiliation: Cellular Function Imaging Team, Center for Life Science Technologies, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.|Multi-Modal Microstructure Analysis Unit, RIKEN CLST-JEOL Collaboration Center, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.affiliation: Cellular Function Imaging Team, Center for Life Science Technologies, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.|Multi-Modal Microstructure Analysis Unit, RIKEN CLST-JEOL Collaboration Center, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamato
authors.affiliation: Cellular Function Imaging Team, Center for Life Science Technologies, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.|Multi-Modal Microstructure Analysis Unit, RIKEN CLST-JEOL Collaboration Center, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kume
authors.affiliation: Cellular Function Imaging Team, Center for Life Science Technologies, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.|Multi-Modal Microstructure Analysis Unit, RIKEN CLST-JEOL Collaboration Center, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Asami
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eguchi
authors.affiliation: Cellular Function Imaging Team, Center for Life Science Technologies, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Kumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takata
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahimachi, Abeno-ku, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.|Pathophysiological and Health Science Team, Center for Life Science Technologies, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuyoshi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Cellular Function Imaging Team, Center for Life Science Technologies, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.|Department of Physiology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahimachi, Abeno-ku, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.|Multi-Modal Microstructure Analysis Unit, RIKEN CLST-JEOL Collaboration Center, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Yosky
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kataoka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000502:physiology*; D015213:Neuroimmunomodulation; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000502:physiology*; D055647:Rats, Transgenic