Logo image
Differential Effects of Prostaglandin D 2 Signaling on Macrophages and Microglia in Murine Coronavirus Encephalomyelitis
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Differential Effects of Prostaglandin D 2 Signaling on Macrophages and Microglia in Murine Coronavirus Encephalomyelitis

Abhishek Kumar Verma, Jian Zheng, Matthias Mack, Florent Ginhoux and Stanley Perlman
mBio, Vol.12(5), e01969-21
10/26/2021
DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01969-21
PMCID: PMC8546556
PMID: 34488442
url
https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01969-21View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Current understanding about the roles of microglia versus macrophages in viral encephalitis is limited. We previously showed that the signaling of a single prostaglandin, PGD 2 , through its DP1 receptor on myeloid cells is critical for optimal immune responses in infected mice. ABSTRACT Microglia and macrophages initiate and orchestrate the innate immune response to central nervous system (CNS) virus infections. Microglia initiate neurotropic coronavirus clearance from the CNS, but the role of infiltrating macrophages is not well understood. Here, using mice lacking cell-specific expression of DP1, the receptor for prostaglandin D 2 (PGD 2 ), we delineate the relative roles of PGD 2 signaling in microglia and macrophages in murine coronavirus-infected mice. We show that the absence of PGD 2 /DP1 signaling on microglia recapitulated the suboptimal immune response observed in global DP1 −/− mice. Unexpectedly, the absence of the DP1 receptor on macrophages had an opposite effect, resulting in enhanced activation and more rapid virus clearance. However, microglia are still required for disease resolution, even when macrophages are highly activated, in part because they are required for macrophage recruitment to sites of infection. Together, these results identify key differences in the effects of PGD 2 /DP1 signaling on microglia and macrophages and illustrate the complex relationship between the two types of myeloid cells. IMPORTANCE Current understanding about the roles of microglia versus macrophages in viral encephalitis is limited. We previously showed that the signaling of a single prostaglandin, PGD 2 , through its DP1 receptor on myeloid cells is critical for optimal immune responses in infected mice. Here, we demonstrate that the specific ablation of the DP1 receptor on macrophages and microglia had markedly different effects on outcomes. DP1 −/− macrophages exhibited greater phagocytic properties than controls, resulting in enhanced kinetics of virus clearance, while DP1 absence on microglia resulted in increased lethality. Microglia were still required for protection, even when DP1 was not expressed on macrophages. These results suggest that therapeutic strategies directed at specific myeloid subsets in the brain may be useful in the context of viral infections.
COVID-19 pandemic

Details

Metrics

Logo image