Microglia derived from aging mice exhibit an altered inflammatory profile

Microglia play a critical role in neurodegenerative diseases and in the brain aging process. Yet, little is known about the functional dynamics of microglia during aging. Thus, using young and aging transgenic mice expressing enhanced-green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under the promoter of the c-fms gene for macrophage-colony stimulating factor receptor, we evaluated in vivo-induced inflammatory responses of EGFP-expressing microglia sorted by flow cytometry. Aging microglia were characterized by the presence of lipofuscin granules, decreased processes complexity, altered granularity, and increased mRNA expression of both pro-inflammatory (TNFalpha, IL-1beta, IL-6) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10, TGFbeta1)…