Lipopolysaccharide triggers exacerbated microglial activation, excessive cytokine release and behavioural disturbances in mice with truncated Fused-in-Sarcoma Protein (FUS)

Alexander Trofimov, Dmitrii Pavlov, Anand Goswami, Anna Gorlova, Kirill Chaprov, Aleksei Umriukhin, Allan Kalueff, Alexey Deykin, Klaus Peter Lesch, Daniel Clive Anthony*, Tatyana Strekalova*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

CNS inflammation, including microglial activation, in response to peripheral infections are known to contribute to the pathology of both familial and sporadic neurodegenerative disease. The relationship between Fused-in-Sarcoma Protein (FUS)-mediated disease in the transgenic FUS[1–359] animals and the systemic inflammatory response have not been explored. Here, we investigated microglial activation, inflammatory gene expression and the behavioural responses to lipopolysaccharide-induced (LPS; 0.1 mg/kg) systemic inflammation in the FUS[1–359] transgenic mice. The pathology of these mice recapitulates the key features of mutant FUS-associated familial frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Here, pre-symptomatic 8-week-old mutant or wild type controls were challenged with LPS or with saline and sucrose intake, novel cage exploration, marble burying and swimming behaviours were analyzed. The level of pro-inflammatory gene expression was also determined, and microglial activation was evaluated. In chronic experiments, to discover whether the LPS challenge would affect the onset of ALS-like paralysis, animals were evaluated for clinical signs from 5 to 7 weeks post-injection. Compared to controls, acutely challenged FUS[1–359]-tg mice exhibited decreased sucrose intake and increased floating behaviours. The FUS[1–359]-tg mice exhibited an increase in immunoreactivity for Iba1-positive cells in the prefrontal cortex and ventral horn of the spinal cord, which was accompanied by increased expression of interleukin-1ß, tumour necrosis factor, cyclooxygenase-(COX)-1 and COX-2. However, the single LPS challenge did not alter the time to development of paralysis in the FUS[1–359]-tg mice. Thus, while the acute inflammatory response was enhanced in the FUS mutant animals, it did not have a lasting impact on disease progression.
Original languageEnglish
Article number100686
Number of pages7
JournalBrain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health
Volume33
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2023

Keywords

  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
  • Cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1)
  • Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)
  • Emotionality
  • Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD)
  • Fused in sarcoma (FUS) protein
  • Interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß)
  • Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
  • Tumour necrosis factor (TNF)

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