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Abstract
Evaluation of: Vukovic J, Colditz MJ, Blackmore DG, Ruitenberg MJ, Bartlett PF. Microglia modulate hippocampal neural precursor activity in response to exercise and aging. J. Neurosci. 32(19), 6435–6443 (2012). Vukovic et al. took an innovative approach to determine that microglia play a significant role in the neurogenesis that occurs in the hippocampus following physical exercise. They further demonstrated that signaling through the fractalkine ligand–receptor (CX3CL1–CX3CR1) pathway is a key mechanism through which microglia confer these neuroprotective effects. When either CX3CL1 or CX3CR1 are reduced or dysregulated, neural precursor cell activation is reduced. Physical exercise was shown to be a robust intervention to elevate CX3CL1 levels in the hippocampus of both adult and aged mice. Activated microglia in aged subjects is associated with a neuroinflammatory phenotype, and when they are depleted from neurosphere cultures, neurogenesis is robustly enhanced, suggesting that interventions that reduce microglial activation in aged subjects are of upmost benefit for the sake of preserving critical hippocampal functions such as learning and memory.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging R01AG028271. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.