Emerging technologies to study glial cells

Hélène Hirbec*, Nicole Déglon, Lynette C. Foo, Inbal Goshen, Jaime Grutzendler, Emilie Hangen, Tirzah Kreisel, Nathalie Linck, Julien Muffat, Sara Regio, Sybille Rion, Carole Escartin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Development, physiological functions, and pathologies of the brain depend on tight interactions between neurons and different types of glial cells, such as astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes, and oligodendrocyte precursor cells. Assessing the relative contribution of different glial cell types is required for the full understanding of brain function and dysfunction. Over the recent years, several technological breakthroughs were achieved, allowing “glio-scientists” to address new challenging biological questions. These technical developments make it possible to study the roles of specific cell types with medium or high-content workflows and perform fine analysis of their mutual interactions in a preserved environment. This review illustrates the potency of several cutting-edge experimental approaches (advanced cell cultures, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived human glial cells, viral vectors, in situ glia imaging, opto- and chemogenetic approaches, and high-content molecular analysis) to unravel the role of glial cells in specific brain functions or diseases. It also illustrates the translation of some techniques to the clinics, to monitor glial cells in patients, through specific brain imaging methods. The advantages, pitfalls, and future developments are discussed for each technique, and selected examples are provided to illustrate how specific “gliobiological” questions can now be tackled.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)1692-1728
Number of pages37
JournalGLIA
Volume68
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Sep 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Grant/Award Numbers: ANR‐16‐TERC‐0016‐01, ANR‐17‐CE12‐0027; Canada‐Israel grants, Grant/Award Number: 2591/18; Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives; European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programm, Grant/Award Number: 803589; Fondation Plan Alzheimer; France Alzheimer; Israel Science Foundation, Grant/Award Number: 1815/18; National Institute of Health, Grant/Award Number: AG058257; Swiss National Science Foundation, Grant/Award Number: 31003A‐165834/1; the Canada Research Chairs program Funding information

Funding Information:
This review was written by the speakers of the technical workshop held at Euroglia 2019. We thank Roche, Neuratris, and SeqOne for financial support to organize the workshop. The authors are supported by CEA (CE), CNRS (CE, HH), and grants from the French National Research Agency [grants # ANR‐16‐TERC‐0016‐01 (CE) and ANR‐17‐CE12‐0027 (EH)], Fondation Plan‐Alzheimer (HH), France Alzheimer (HH), National Institute of Health grant # AG058257 (JG), the Swiss National Science Foundation grant # 31003A‐165834/1 (ND), the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (JM), the Canada Research Chairs Program (JM), European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program [Grant No. 803589 (IG)], the Israel Science Foundation [ISF Grant No. 1815/18 (IG)], the Israeli Centers of Research Excellence Program [Center No. 1916/12 (IG)], and the Canada‐Israel grants [CIHR‐ISF, Grant No. 2591/18 (IG)].

Funding Information:
This review was written by the speakers of the technical workshop held at Euroglia 2019. We thank Roche, Neuratris, and SeqOne for financial support to organize the workshop. The authors are supported by CEA (CE), CNRS (CE, HH), and grants from the French National Research Agency [grants # ANR-16-TERC-0016-01 (CE) and ANR-17-CE12-0027 (EH)], Fondation Plan-Alzheimer (HH), France Alzheimer (HH), National Institute of Health grant # AG058257 (JG), the Swiss National Science Foundation grant # 31003A-165834/1 (ND), the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (JM), the Canada Research Chairs Program (JM), European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program [Grant No. 803589 (IG)], the Israel Science Foundation [ISF Grant No. 1815/18 (IG)], the Israeli Centers of Research Excellence Program [Center No. 1916/12 (IG)], and the Canada-Israel grants [CIHR-ISF, Grant No. 2591/18 (IG)].

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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