Microglia modulate memories: Synaptic reorganization and circuit rewiring leads to loss or weakening of connections between neurons and may result in the erasure of previously formed memories. Microglia eliminate excessive synapses in the developing brain and regulate the dynamics of synaptic connections between neurons throughout life. However, it is still unclear whether forgetting is related to microglia activity and how microglia regulate memory erasure in the adult brain. Wang et al. discovered that microglia eliminated synaptic components in the adult hippocampus and that depleting microglia or inhibiting phagocytosis of microglia prevented forgetting. Synapse elimination by microglia may thus lead to degradation of memory engrams and forgetting of previously learned contextual fear memory. Science , this issue p. 688

Progranulin (PGRN) is a widely expressed secreted protein that is linked to inflammation. In humans, PGRN haploinsufficiency is a major inherited cause of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), but how PGRN deficiency causes neurodegeneration is unknown. Here we show that loss of PGRN results in increased neuron loss in response to injury in the CNS. When exposed acutely to 1-methyl-4-(2′-methylphenyl)-1,2,3,6-tetrahydrophine (MPTP), mice lacking PGRN (Grn^–/–) showed more neuron loss and increased microgliosis compared with wild-type mice. The exacerbated neuron loss was due not to selective vulnerability of Grn^–/– neurons to MPTP, but rather to an increased microglial inflammatory response. Consistent with this, conditional mutants lacking PGRN in microglia exhibited MPTP-induced phenotypes similar to Grn^–/– mice. Selective depletion of PGRN from microglia in mixed cortical cultures resulted in increased death of wild-type neurons in the absence of injury. Furthermore, Grn^–/– microglia treated with LPS/IFN-γ exhibited an amplified inflammatory response, and conditioned media from these microglia promoted death of cultured neurons. Our results indicate that PGRN deficiency leads to dysregulated microglial activation and thereby contributes to increased neuron loss with injury. These findings suggest that PGRN deficiency may cause increased neuron loss in other forms of CNS injury accompanied by neuroinflammation.

Aberrant microglial activation has been proposed to contribute to the cognitive decline in Alzheimer disease (AD), but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain enigmatic. Fractalkine signaling, a pathway mediating the communication between microglia and neurons, is deficient in AD brains and down-regulated by amyloid-β. Although fractalkine receptor (CX3CR1) on microglia was found to regulate plaque load, no functional effects have been reported. Our study demonstrates that CX3CR1 deficiency worsens the AD-related neuronal and behavioral deficits. The effects were associated with cytokine production but not with plaque deposition. Ablation of CX3CR1 in mice overexpressing human amyloid precursor protein enhanced Tau pathology and exacerbated the depletion of calbindin in the dentate gyrus. The levels of calbindin in the dentate gyrus correlated negatively with those of tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin 6, suggesting neurotoxic effects of inflammatory factors. Functionally, removing CX3CR1 in human amyloid precursor protein mice worsened the memory retention in passive avoidance and novel object recognition tests, and their memory loss in the novel object recognition test is associated with high levels of interleukin 6. Our findings identify CX3CR1 as a key microglial pathway in protecting against AD-related cognitive deficits that are associated with aberrant microglial activation and elevated inflammatory cytokines.