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Chemotactic signaling, microglia, and Alzheimer’s disease senile plaques: Is there a connection?

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Abstract

Chemotactic cells known as microglia are involved in the inflammation associated with pathology in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We investigate conditions that lead to aggregation of microglia and formation of local accumulations of chemicals observed in AD senile plaques. We develop a model for chemotaxis in response to a combination of chemoattractant and chemorepellent signaling chemicals. Linear stability analysis and numerical simulations of the model predict that periodic patterns in cell and chemical distributions can evolve under local attraction, long-ranged repulsion, and other constraints on concentrations and diffusion coefficients of the chemotactic signals. Using biological parameters from the literature, we compare and discuss the applicability of this model to actual processes in AD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, 179 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115-5896, USA

    Magdalena Luca

  2. Room 1211984, Mathematics Road, Mathematics Annex 1111, Department of Mathematics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T 1Z2

    Alexandra Chavez-Ross & Leah Edelstein-Keshet

  3. Department of Mathematics and Center for Genetics and Development, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Alex Mogilner

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  1. Magdalena Luca
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  2. Alexandra Chavez-Ross
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  4. Alex Mogilner
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Luca, M., Chavez-Ross, A., Edelstein-Keshet, L. et al. Chemotactic signaling, microglia, and Alzheimer’s disease senile plaques: Is there a connection?. Bull. Math. Biol. 65, 693–730 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8240(03)00030-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8240(03)00030-2

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