Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that is widely used in clinical practice for therapeutic purposes. Nevertheless, the mechanisms that mediate its therapeutic effects remain poorly understood. Recent work implicates that microglia, the resident immune cells of the central nervous system, have a defined role in the regulation of physiological brain function, e.g. the expression of synaptic plasticity. Despite this observation, no evidence exists for a role of microglia in excitatory synaptic plasticity induced by rTMS. Here, we used repetitive magnetic stimulation of organotypic entorhino-hippocampal tissue cultures to test for the role of microglia in synaptic plasticity induced by 10 Hz repetitive magnetic stimulation (rMS). For this purpose, we performed PLX3397 (Pexidartinib) treatment to deplete microglia from tissue culture preparations. Using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, live-cell microscopy, immunohistochemistry and transcriptome analysis, we assessed structural and functional properties of both CA1 pyramidal neurons and microglia to correlate the microglia phenotype to synaptic plasticity. PLX3397 treatment over 18 days reliably depletes microglia in tissue cultures, without affecting structural and functional properties of CA1 pyramidal neurons. Microglia-depleted cultures display defects in the ability of CA1 pyramidal neurons to express plasticity of excitatory synapses upon rMS. Notably, rMS induces a moderate release of proinflammatory and plasticity-promoting factors, while microglial morphology stays unaltered. We conclude that microglia play a crucial role in rMS-induced excitatory synaptic plasticity.

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Microglia-the resident immune cells of the central nervous system-sense the activity of neurons and regulate physiological brain functions. They have been implicated in the pathology of brain diseases associated with alterations in neural excitability and plasticity. However, experimental and therapeutic approaches that modulate microglia function in a brain-region-specific manner have not been established. In this study, we tested for the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a clinically employed non-invasive brain stimulation technique, on microglia-mediated synaptic plasticity. 10 Hz electromagnetic stimulation triggered a release of plasticity-promoting cytokines from microglia in mouse organotypic brain tissue cultures of both sexes, while no significant changes in microglial morphology or microglia dynamics were observed. Indeed, substitution of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and interleukin 6 (IL6) preserved synaptic plasticity induced by 10 Hz stimulation in the absence of microglia. Consistent with these findings, in vivo depletion of microglia abolished rTMS-induced changes in neurotransmission in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of anesthetized mice of both sexes. We conclude that rTMS affects neural excitability and plasticity by modulating the release of cytokines from microglia.Significance Statement:Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that induces cortical plasticity. Despite its wide use in neuroscience and clinical practice (e.g., depression treatment) the cellular and molecular mechanisms of rTMS-mediated plasticity remain not well understood. Herein, we report an important role of microglia and plasticity-promoting cytokines in synaptic plasticity induced by 10 Hz rTMS in organotypic slice cultures and anesthetized mice, thereby identifying microglia-mediated synaptic adaptation as a target of rTMS-based interventions.

Neurons that lose part of their afferent input remodel their synaptic connections. While cellular and molecular mechanisms of denervation-induced changes in excitatory neurotransmission have been identified, little is known about the signaling pathways that control inhibition in denervated networks. In this study, we used mouse entorhino-hippocampal tissue cultures of both sexes to study the role of the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) in denervation-induced plasticity of inhibitory neurotransmission. In line with our previous findings in vitro, an entorhinal cortex lesion triggered a compensatory increase in the excitatory synaptic strength of partially denervated dentate granule cells. Inhibitory synaptic strength was not changed 3 days after the lesion. These functional changes were accompanied by a recruitment of microglia in the denervated hippocampus, and experiments in tissue cultures prepared from TNF-reporter mice [C57BL/6-Tg(TNFa-eGFP)] showed increased TNFα expression in the denervated zone. However, inhibitory neurotransmission was not affected by scavenging TNFα with a soluble TNF receptor. In turn, a decrease in inhibition, i.e., decreased frequencies of miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents, was observed in denervated dentate granule cells of microglia-depleted tissue cultures. We conclude from these results that activated microglia maintain the inhibition of denervated dentate granule cells and that TNFα is not required for the maintenance of inhibition after denervation.

Structural, functional, and molecular reorganization of denervated neural networks is often observed in neurological conditions. The loss of input is accompanied by homeostatic synaptic adaptations, which can affect the reorganization process. A major challenge of denervation-induced homeostatic plasticity operating in complex neural networks is the specialization of neuronal inputs. It remains unclear whether neurons respond similarly to the loss of distinct inputs. Here, we used in vitro entorhinal cortex lesion (ECL) and Schaffer collateral lesion (SCL) in mouse organotypic entorhino-hippocampal tissue cultures to study denervation-induced plasticity of CA1 pyramidal neurons. We observed microglia accumulation, presynaptic bouton degeneration, and a reduction in dendritic spine numbers in the denervated layers 3 days after SCL and ECL. Transcriptome analysis of the CA1 region revealed complex changes in differential gene expression following SCL and ECL compared to non-lesioned controls with a specific enrichment of differentially expressed synapse-related genes observed after ECL. Consistent with this finding, denervation-induced homeostatic plasticity of excitatory synapses was observed 3 days after ECL but not after SCL. Chemogenetic silencing of the EC but not CA3 confirmed the pathway-specific induction of homeostatic synaptic plasticity in CA1. Additionally, increased RNA oxidation was observed after SCL and ECL. These results reveal important commonalities and differences between distinct pathway lesions and demonstrate a pathway-specific induction of denervation-induced homeostatic synaptic plasticity.