Microglia increases the proliferation of retinal precursor cells during postnatal development.
PurposeIn mice, retinal development continues throughout the postnatal stage accompanied by the proliferation of retinal precursor cells. Previous reports showed that during the postnatal stage microglia increase from postnatal day 0 (P0) to P7. However, how microglia are associated with retinal development remains unknown.MethodsThe involvement of microglia in retinal development was investigated by two approaches, microglial activation and loss, using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and PLX3397 (pexidartinib), respectively.ResultsLPS injection at 1 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (i.p.) in the neonatal mice increased the number of retinal microglia at P7. 5-Bromo- 2´-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-positive proliferative cells were increased by LPS treatment compared to the control group. The proliferative cells were mainly colocalized with paired box 6 (Pax6), a marker of retinal precursor cells. However, the depletion of microglia by treatment with PLX3397 decreased the BrdU-positive proliferative cells. Moreover, progranulin deficiency decreased the number of microglia and retinal precursor cells.ConclusionsThese findings indicated that microglia regulate the proliferation of immature retinal cells.
- PubMed
- Europe PMC
- Mol Vis 24:536-545 ()