Understanding Microglia–Neuron Cross Talk: Relevance of the Microglia–Neuron Cocultures

Abstract

Microglia–neuron interaction is a complex process involving a plethora of ligands and receptors. The outcome of this intricate process will depend on the prevailing signals (i.e., whether the microglial cells will produce pro-infl ammatory cytokines and/or phagocyte a dying neuron or whether it will produce neurotrophic factors and support neuronal growth, among other possible scenarios). In order to study this complex process, several tools have been developed, ranging from in vivo models ( knockout and knock-in mice, conditional transgenic mice, imaging techniques) to in vitro models (microglia– neuron cocultures, transwell cell cultures). Here we describe a protocol for primary microglia–neuron coculture. This coculture allows to combine neurons and microglial cells coming from wild-type and KO mice, making this coculture a useful method to study in vitro the interaction of different sets of ligand–receptor.