Microglia regulation of synaptic plasticity and learning and memory

Microglia are the resident macrophages of the central nervous system.Microglia possess varied morphologies and functions.Under normal physiological conditions,microglia mainly exist in a resting state and constantly monitor their microenvironment and survey neuronal and synaptic activity.Through the C1 q,C3 and CR3"Eat Me"and CD47 and SIRPα"Don't Eat Me"complement pathways,as well as other pathways such as CX3 CR1 signaling,resting microglia regulate synaptic pruning,a process crucial for the promotion of synapse formation and the regulation of neuronal activity and synaptic plasticity.By mediating synaptic pruning,resting microglia play an important role in the regulation of experience-dependent plasticity in the barrel cortex and visual cortex after whisker removal or monocular deprivation,and also in the regulation of learning and memory,including the modulation of memory strength,forgetfulness,and memory quality.As a response to brain injury,infection or neuroinflammation,microglia become activated and increase in number.Activated microglia change to an amoeboid shape,migrate to sites of inflammation and secrete proteins such as cytokines,chemokines and reactive oxygen species.These molecules released by microglia can lead to synaptic plasticity and learning and memory deficits associated with aging,Alzheimer's disease,traumatic brain injury,HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder,and other neurological or mental disorders such as autism,depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.With a focus mainly on recently published literature,here we reviewed the studies investigating the role of resting microglia in synaptic plasticity and learning and memory,as well as how activated microglia modulate disease-related plasticity and learning and memory deficits.By summarizing the function of microglia in these processes,we aim to provide an overview of microglia regulation of synaptic plasticity and learning and memory,and to discuss the possibility of microglia manipulation as a therapeutic to ameliorate cognitive deficits associated with aging,Alzheimer's disease,traumatic brain injury,HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder,and mental disorders.

Genome-wide distribution and functions of the AAE complex in epigenetic regulation in Arabidopsis

Heterochromatin is widespread in eukaryotic genomes and has diverse impacts depending on its genomic context.Previous studies have shown that a protein complex,the ASI1-AIPP1-EDM2(AAE)complex,participates in polyadenylation regulation of several intronic heterochromatin-containing genes.However,the genome-wide functions of AAE are still unknown.Here,we show that the ASI1 and EDM2 mostly target the common genomic regions on a genome-wide level and preferentially interacts with genetic heterochromatin.Polyadenylation(poly(A)sequencing reveals that AAE complex has a substantial influence on poly(A)site usage of heterochromatin-containing genes,includingnotonlyintronicheterochromatincontaining genes but also the genes showing overlap with heterochromatin.Intriguingly,AAE is also involved in the alternative splicing regulation of a number of heterochromatin-overlapping genes,such as the disease resistance gene RPP4.We provided evidence that genic heterochromatin is indispensable for the recruitment of AAE in polyadenylation and splicing regulation.In addition to conferring RNA processing regulation at genic heterochromatin-containing genes,AAE also targets some transposable elements(TEs)outside of genes(including TEs sandwiched by genes and island TEs)for epigenetic silencing.Our results reveal new functions of AAE in RNA processing and epigenetic silencing,and thus representimportantadvancesinepigenetic regulation.