Protocol for brain-wide or region-specific microglia depletion and repopulation in adult mice

Emily F Willis; Jana Vukovic

doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2020.100211

Protocol for brain-wide or region-specific microglia depletion and repopulation in adult mice

STAR Protoc. 2020 Dec 13;1(3):100211. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2020.100211. eCollection 2020 Dec 18.

Authors

Emily F Willis¹, Jana Vukovic¹

Affiliation

¹ School of Biomedical Sciences, and Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Abstract

The advent of tools enabling the direct manipulation of microglia has furthered our understanding of their role in health and disease. Here, we present a detailed protocol allowing for microglia turnover in adult CX₃CR₁^creERT2 × iDTR or CX₃CR₁^creERT2 × iDTR × tdTomato^flox mice, either in a brain-wide or region-specific manner, and their subsequent isolation for downstream applications. This protocol may be used to explore microglia biology and their putative region-specific heterogeneous functional diversity, expanding our understanding of their importance in various neuroinflammatory conditions. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Willis et al. (2020).

Keywords: Flow Cytometry/Mass Cytometry; Immunology; Model Organisms; Neuroscience.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Brain / cytology
Disease Models, Animal
Flow Cytometry / methods*
Hippocampus / cytology
Injections / instrumentation
Injections / methods
Luminescent Proteins
Mice
Microglia / cytology*
Microglia / metabolism
Microglia / physiology*
Red Fluorescent Protein

Substances

Luminescent Proteins