Journal: Molecular Neurodegeneration
Article Title: β-Amyloid induces microglial expression of GPC4 and APOE leading to increased neuronal tau pathology and toxicity
doi: 10.1186/s13024-025-00883-4
Figure Lengend Snippet: Microglial GPC4 expression is upregulated in human AD brain and correlates with amyloid pathology. ( A ) Representative confocal images of IBA1 (green), GPC4 (red), and DAPI (blue) in two age-matched controls and two AD cases. Scale bar = 20 μm. ( B ) GPC4 mean fluorescence intensity measurements in IBA1 + microglia from age-matched controls ( N = 7) and AD ( N = 4) cases. The statistical analysis was performed with a Student t-test for averaged values from individual subjects. The data represent the means ± SEM. ( C ) Representative confocal images of IBA1 (green), GPC4 (red), and Amylo-Glo (blue) in an AD case. Arrowhead = amyloid plaque; Arrow = GPC4 + microglia; Asterisk = GPC4 − microglia. Scale bar = 40 μm. ( D ) Quantification of GPC4 mean intensity values in IBA + microglia located at two distances from Amylo-Glo + Aβ plaques. A total of eight plaques were measured from each brain, and for each plaque, microglia were binned into two separate categories, “near” or “far”, based on proximity to the plaque. Near: < 125 μm from center of plaque; Far: >150 μm and < 350 μm from edge of plaque. The p -values were determined by a paired t-test. The data represent the means ± SEM. ( E ) Scatter plots of microglial GPC4 mean fluorescence intensity per each patient versus their amyloid plaque burden, neurofibrillary tangle burden, or age. Pathological categories colored grey for control, purple for individuals for tau pathology only, blue for individuals with Aβ pathology only, or red for individuals with both tau and Aβ pathology. Normal distribution was assessed using the D’Agostino & Pearson test which indicated that GPC4 values, pathological burden values, and age were normally distributed. The p -values were determined by Pearson’s correlation with 95% confidence bands and adjusted for confounding by applying multiple linear regression.
Article Snippet: All GPC4 DNA sequences were synthesized by Twist Biosciences and cloned into FM5 vector using a Gibson assembly method.
Techniques: Expressing, Fluorescence, Control