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. 1999 Dec;11(12):4251-61.
doi: 10.1046/j.1460-9568.1999.00852.x.

Morphological, immunophenotypical and electrophysiological properties of resting microglia in vitro

C Eder  1 , T Schilling, U Heinemann, D Haas, N Hailer, R Nitsch
Affiliations

Morphological, immunophenotypical and electrophysiological properties of resting microglia in vitro

C Eder et al. Eur J Neurosci. 1999 Dec.

Abstract

Morphological, immunophenotypical and electrophysiological properties were investigated in isolated cultured murine microglia before and after exposure to astrocyte-conditioned medium (ACM). Following application of ACM, microglial cells underwent a dramatic shape transformation from an amoeboid appearance to a ramified morphology. In parallel to morphological changes, a downregulation of macrophage surface antigens was observed in microglia exposed to ACM. Staining intensities for major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules and for the adhesion molecules leukocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) were significantly decreased in ramified microglia 5 days after exposure to ACM. In microglial cells treated daily with ACM over a period of 5 days, the smallest staining intensities for all surface antigens as well as the smallest ramification index as a measure for the highest degree of ramification were determined. In addition, upregulation of delayed rectifier K + currents was observed in microglia exposed to ACM for 1 day or treated daily with ACM for 5 days. In contrast, untreated amoeboid microglia or ramified microglia analysed 5 days after exposure to ACM did not express delayed rectifier K + currents. Analyses of the resting membrane potential and expression levels and properties of inward rectifier K + currents did not reveal any differences between untreated and ACM-treated microglia. It is suggested that electrophysiological properties of microglia do not strongly correlate with the morphology or the immunophenotype of microglial cells.

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