Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Umbilical cord blood derived microglia-like cells to model COVID-19 exposure

Steven D. Sheridan, Jessica M. Thanos, Rose M. De Guzman, Liam T. McCrea, Joy Horng, Ting Fu, Carl M. Sellgren, Roy H. Perlis, Andrea G. Edlow
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.07.329748
Steven D. Sheridan
1Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
2Center for Genomic Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jessica M. Thanos
1Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
2Center for Genomic Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Rose M. De Guzman
3Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
4Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Liam T. McCrea
1Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
2Center for Genomic Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Joy Horng
1Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
2Center for Genomic Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ting Fu
1Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
2Center for Genomic Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Carl M. Sellgren
5Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Roy H. Perlis
1Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
2Center for Genomic Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: aedlow@mgh.harvard.edu rperlis@mgh.harvard.edu
Andrea G. Edlow
3Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
4Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: aedlow@mgh.harvard.edu rperlis@mgh.harvard.edu
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Microglia, the resident brain immune cells, play a critical role in normal brain development, and are impacted by the intrauterine environment, including maternal immune activation and inflammatory exposures. The COVID-19 pandemic presents a potential developmental immune challenge to the fetal brain, in the setting of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection with its attendant potential for cytokine production and, in severe cases, cytokine storming. There is currently no biomarker or model for in utero microglial priming and function that might aid in identifying the neonates and children most vulnerable to neurodevelopmental morbidity, as microglia remain inaccessible in fetal life and after birth. This study aimed to generate patient-derived microglial-like cell models unique to each neonate from reprogrammed umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells, adapting and extending a novel methodology previously validated for adult peripheral blood mononuclear cells. We demonstrate that umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells can be used to create microglial-like cell models morphologically and functionally similar to microglia observed in vivo. We illustrate the application of this approach by generating microglia from cells exposed and unexposed to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our ability to create personalized neonatal models of fetal brain immune programming enables non-invasive insights into fetal brain development and potential childhood neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities for a range of maternal exposures, including COVID-19.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted October 07, 2020.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Umbilical cord blood derived microglia-like cells to model COVID-19 exposure
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Umbilical cord blood derived microglia-like cells to model COVID-19 exposure
Steven D. Sheridan, Jessica M. Thanos, Rose M. De Guzman, Liam T. McCrea, Joy Horng, Ting Fu, Carl M. Sellgren, Roy H. Perlis, Andrea G. Edlow
bioRxiv 2020.10.07.329748; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.07.329748
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Umbilical cord blood derived microglia-like cells to model COVID-19 exposure
Steven D. Sheridan, Jessica M. Thanos, Rose M. De Guzman, Liam T. McCrea, Joy Horng, Ting Fu, Carl M. Sellgren, Roy H. Perlis, Andrea G. Edlow
bioRxiv 2020.10.07.329748; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.07.329748

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Neuroscience
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3505)
  • Biochemistry (7348)
  • Bioengineering (5324)
  • Bioinformatics (20266)
  • Biophysics (10020)
  • Cancer Biology (7744)
  • Cell Biology (11305)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6437)
  • Ecology (9953)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13325)
  • Genetics (9361)
  • Genomics (12586)
  • Immunology (7702)
  • Microbiology (19024)
  • Molecular Biology (7443)
  • Neuroscience (41041)
  • Paleontology (300)
  • Pathology (1229)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2138)
  • Physiology (3161)
  • Plant Biology (6861)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1273)
  • Synthetic Biology (1896)
  • Systems Biology (5313)
  • Zoology (1089)