P3‐204: PATIENT‐DERIVED MICROGLIA CELLULAR MODEL TOWARDS BETTER UNDERSTANDING NEUROIMMUNOLOGY OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

It is well known that microglia are the only brain-resident immune cells that mediate key functions supporting the central neuron system. Activated microglia represent a common pathological feature of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, due to the inaccessibility of microglia from the brain of patients, the exact role of microglia in AD has not been well explored. In this study, we first introduced an in vitro cellular model of induced microglia-like cells (iMGL) that are directly derived from human peripheral blood cells. iMGL were then characterized by morphology and immunocytochemistry or specific phagocytic assay. To further confirm the similarity of iMGL with the microglia from human brain, we conducted RNA-seq from the iMGL cells, and compared with RNA-seq data of microglia from human brain. Our results indicated that the iMGL cells have microglial characterizations, such as a ramified morphology and microglia specific surface markers. More interestingly, these cells showed strong phagocytic activity when treated with fibril β-amyloid protein. Results from RNA-seq also showed that iMGL resembles the most with microglia from brain, following with induced macrophage. Further function studies of this unique cellular model directly from AD patients will lead to better understanding of AD neuroimmunology, towards not only the discovery of diagnostic biomarkers but also personalized intervention for the disease.