Engrafted parenchymal brain macrophages differ from microglia in transcriptome, chromatin landscape and response to challenge
Shemer A, Grozovski J, Tay TL, Tao J, Volaski A, Süß P, Ardura-Fabregat A, Gross-Vered M, Kim JS, David E, Chappell-Maor L, Thielecke L, Glass CK, Cornils K, Prinz M, Jung S.
Microglia are yolk sac-derived macrophages residing in the parenchyma of brain and spinal cord, where they interact with neurons and other glial. After different conditioning paradigms and bone marrow (BM) or hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation, graft-derived cells seed the brain and persistently contribute to the parenchymal brain macrophage compartment. Here we establish that graft-derived macrophages acquire, over time, microglia characteristics, including ramified morphology, longevity, radio-resistance and clonal expansion. However, even after prolonged CNS residence, transcriptomes and chromatin accessibility landscapes of engrafted, BM-derived macrophages remain distinct from yolk sac-derived host microglia. Collectively, our data emphasize the molecular and functional heterogeneity of parenchymal brain macrophages and highlight potential clinical implications for HSC gene therapies aimed to ameliorate lysosomal storage disorders, microgliopathies or general monogenic immuno-deficiencies.
