Microglia as Effectors of Respiratory Plasticity in Health and Disease

Featured Topic — Sunday, April 22, 2024 — 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM — Convention Center, Room 28B
Respiration Section — Chair: Richard Kinkead — Co-Chair: Frank L. Powell

The neural network that regulates breathing shows significant plasticity throughout life. While our community has made significant contributions to explain how various stimuli and experiences shape the function of this vital homeostatic system, our understanding of the specific mechanisms remain incomplete. Recent advances in neuroscience have revealed how microglia can shape development and function of the brain. Microglia were initially viewed as the “garbage collectors of the brain” but the growing interest for these neuro-immune cells have revealed how they can strengthen and eliminate synapses according to signals from their immediate environment. These cells now appear as important determinants of neurological health and disease and recent results from the field of respiratory research suggest that they can be important effectors of respiratory adaptation, sex-based difference in function and plasticity throughout life. The main objective of this symposium is to gain a better understanding of the neurobiology of microglia and then discuss recent evidence indicating how they can shape the respiratory control system. To do so Dr Marie-Ève Tremblay (U. Laval) will begin the session by discussing how “dark microglia” could be implicated in the pathological remodeling of neuronal circuits. The symposium will then highlight recent evidence indicating that microglia can contribute to manifestation of respiratory plasticity including adaptation to altitude (F. Powell), intermittent hypoxia induced respiratory plasticity (J. Watters) and sex-specific effects of stress on respiratory control (R. Kinkead). Given the growing interest for microglia in neuroscience and various spheres of cardio-respiratory physiology. 

Speakers

• Dark microglia and pathological remodeling of neuronal circuits .
  Marie-Ève Tremblay — Molecular Medicine, Université Laval


• Inflammation Differentially Impacts Phrenic Long-term Facilitation (pLTF) in Rats with Motor Neuron Death Induced by Intrapleural CTB-saporin Injections
  Nicole L. Nichols — University of Missouri


• Is regulation of microglial functions by T3 dependent on the micro-environment?: Insights from the brainstem respiratory control network of newborn mice
  Jean-Philippe Rousseau — Université Laval


• Gestational intermittent hypoxia induces neuroinflammation and impairs compensatory respiratory plasticity in adult offspring
  Armand Meza — University of Wisconsin - Madison


• Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension in CX3CR1-deficient mice correlates with decreased microglia activation
  Aline Cristina Oliveira — University of Florida


• CHAIR
  Richard Kinkead —