Skip to main content

Depletion of Microglia from Primary Cellular Cultures

  • Protocol
  • First Online:
Microglia

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1041))

Abstract

Primary cultures are an important in vitro tool to study cellular processes and interactions. These cultures are complex systems, composed of many cell types, including neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia, NG2 cells, and endothelial cells. For some studies it is necessary to be able to study a pure culture of one cell type, or eliminate a particular cell type, to better understand its function. There exist cell culture protocols for making pure astrocyte or microglia cultures. Here we present two protocols to produce cultures depleted for microglia: in the first case, from a mixed astrocyte–microglia culture and, in the second, for eliminating microglia from neuronal cultures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Protocol
USD 49.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Pelvig DP, Pakkenberg H, Stark AK et al (2008) Neocortical glial cell numbers in human brains. Neurobiol Aging 29(11):1754–1762

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Saura J (2007) Microglial cells in astroglial cultures: a cautionary note. J Neuroinflammation 4:26

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Stellwagen D, Malenka RC (2006) Synaptic scaling mediated by glial TNF-alpha. Nature 440(7087):1054–1059

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Pascual O, Ben Achour S, Rostaing P et al (2012) Microglia activation triggers astrocyte-mediated modulation of excitatory neurotransmission. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109(4):E197–205

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Saijo K, Winner B, Carson CT et al (2009) A Nurr1/CoREST pathway in microglia and astrocytes protects dopaminergic neurons from inflammation-induced death. Cell 137(1):47–59

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Bezzi P, Domercq M, Brambilla L et al (2001) CXCR4-activated astrocyte glutamate release via TNFalpha: amplification by microglia triggers neurotoxicity. Nat Neurosci 4(7):702–710

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. McCarthy KD, de Vellis J (1980) Preparation of separate astroglial and oligodendroglial cell cultures from rat cerebral tissue. J Cell Biol 85(3):890–902

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Holm TH, Draeby D, Owens T (2012) Microglia are required for astroglial Toll-like receptor 4 response and for optimal TLR2 and TLR3 response. Glia 60(4):630–638

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hamby ME, Uliasz TF, Hewett SJ et al (2006) Characterization of an improved procedure for the removal of microglia from confluent monolayers of primary astrocytes. J Neurosci Methods 150(1):128–137

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Giulian D, Baker TJ (1986) Characterization of ameboid microglia isolated from developing mammalian brain. J Neurosci 6(8):2163–2178

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Brahmachari S, Fung YK, Pahan K (2006) Induction of glial fibrillary acidic protein expression in astrocytes by nitric oxide. J Neurosci 26(18):4930–4939

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Alfonso-Loeches S, Pascual-Lucas M, Blanco AM et al (2010) Pivotal role of TLR4 receptors in alcohol-induced neuroinflammation and brain damage. J Neurosci 30(24):8285–8295

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Hewett JA, Hewett SJ, Winkler S et al (1999) Inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in cultures enriched for mature oligodendrocytes is due to microglia. J Neurosci Res 56(2):189–198

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Sola C, Casal C, Tusell JM et al (2002) Astrocytes enhance lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production by microglial cells. Eur J Neurosci 16(7):1275–1283

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Beattie EC, Stellwagen D, Morishita W et al (2002) Control of synaptic strength by glial TNFalpha. Science 295(5563):2282–2285

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Barres BA (2008) The mystery and magic of glia: a perspective on their roles in health and disease. Neuron 60(3):430–440

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Burnett SH, Kershen EJ, Zhang J et al (2004) Conditional macrophage ablation in transgenic mice expressing a Fas-based suicide gene. J Leukoc Biol 75(4):612–623

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Marin-Teva JL, Dusart I, Colin C, Gervais A et al (2004) Microglia promote the death of developing Purkinje cells. Neuron 41(4):535–547

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Montero Dominguez M, Gonzalez B, Zimmer J (2009) Neuroprotective effects of the anti-inflammatory compound triflusal on ischemia-like neurodegeneration in mouse hippocampal slice cultures occur independent of microglia. Exp Neurol 218(1):11–23

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Montero M, Gonzalez B, Zimmer J (2009) Immunotoxic depletion of microglia in mouse hippocampal slice cultures enhances ischemia-like neurodegeneration. Brain Res 1291:140–152

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Reeves JP (1979) Accumulation of amino acids by lysosomes incubated with amino acid methyl esters. J Biol Chem 254(18):8914–8921

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Thiele DL, Kurosaka M, Lipsky PE (1983) Phenotype of the accessory cell necessary for mitogen-stimulated T and B cell responses in human peripheral blood: delineation by its sensitivity to the lysosomotropic agent, l-leucine methyl ester. J Immunol 131(5):2282–2290

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Wiley RG, Oeltmann TN, Lappi DA (1991) Immunolesioning: selective destruction of neurons using immunotoxin to rat NGF receptor. Brain Res 562(1):149–153

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Uliasz TF, Hamby ME, Jackman NA et al (2012) Generation of primary astrocyte cultures devoid of contaminating microglia. Methods Mol Biol (Clifton, NJ) 814:61–79

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Maddox DE, Shibata S, Goldstein IJ (1982) Stimulated macrophages express a new glycoprotein receptor reactive with Griffonia simplicifolia I-B4 isolectin. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 79(1):166–170

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Streit WJ, Kreutzberg GW (1987) Lectin binding by resting and reactive microglia. J Neurocytol 16(2):249–260

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Laitinen L (1987) Griffonia simplicifolia lectins bind specifically to endothelial cells and some epithelial cells in mouse tissues. Histochem J 19(4):225–234

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Fang X, Djouhri L, McMullan S et al (2006) Intense isolectin-B4 binding in rat dorsal root ganglion neurons distinguishes C-fiber nociceptors with broad action potentials and high Nav1.9 expression. J Neurosci 26(27):7281–7292

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Sarrah Ben Achour for preliminary experiments and thank Yasmine Belarif-Cantaut for the helpful discussion with the Saporin protocol. The work was supported by a grant from the seventh Framework Program Moodinflame (222963).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this protocol

Cite this protocol

Pont-Lezica, L., Colasse, S., Bessis, A. (2013). Depletion of Microglia from Primary Cellular Cultures. In: Joseph, B., Venero, J. (eds) Microglia. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1041. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-520-0_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-520-0_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-62703-519-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-520-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

Publish with us

Policies and ethics