Is microglia one of the mediators of IGF-1 effects on aged rats?

FALOMIR LOCKHART E; HEREÑÚ C.; BELLINI M,

Mar del Plata

Congreso; XXX Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones en Neurociencias; 2015

Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones en Neurociencias

Microglial cells play an important role in healthy and diseased brain removing apoptotic neurons, establishing transient connections with neuronal synapses and producing neurotrophic factors that modulate neurogenesis during embryogenesis and adulthood. These cells are essential for ensuring neuroprotection in the normal and pathological condition of central nervous system as they are an important sources of neurotrophic factors. It has been described that aging reduces the ability of microglia to provide neuroprotection.It is well known that IGF-1 plays a physiological role in neuroprotection. In situations involving cytotoxic damage, the microglia increases the production of IGF-1. Previous studies of our group described that intracerebroventricular (ICV) IGF-1 gene therapy induced a significant improvement in motor performance in aged rats.HYPOTHESISWE PROPOSE THAT RESTORATIVE EFFECTS OF IGF-1 ON MOTOR SKILLS COULD BE MEDIATED BY GLIAL CELLS.Animals: Aged Sprague-Dawley female rats (28 month) were used. Animals were divided into two groups: Experimental group (E), treated with RAd-IGF-1, and Control group (C) treated with RAd-DsRed. Experimental Protocol: On experimental day -1 (D-1) all the animals were performed for motor tests. On D0, we perform the stereotactic ICV injection with RAd-IGF-1 or RAd-DsRed. On D17, we performed again the motor tests in all the animals to evaluate the motor performance. Finally, all animals were sacrificed on D18 and their brains were removed and processed for IHQ or qRT-PCR analysis.CONCLUSIONOur results suggest that microglia could be involved in the maintenance of motor skills and offer a novel approach for reversing age-associated motor and exploratory performance in rats.