TY - JOUR
AU - Richter, Mathis
AU - Diesterbeck, Eva
AU - Pylaeva, Ekaterina
AU - Labusek, Nicole
AU - Köster, Christian
AU - Nagel, Dennis
AU - Karsch, Laura
AU - Fischer, Alexa Josephine
AU - Sous, Marah
AU - Jung, Marcel
AU - Chevre, Raphael
AU - Hagemann, Nina
AU - Andersson, Erik Axel
AU - Ek, C Joakim
AU - Singh, Vikramjeet
AU - Hermann, Dirk M
AU - Gunzer, Matthias
AU - Jablonska, Jadwiga
AU - Felderhoff-Müser, Ursula
AU - Bendix, Ivo
AU - Soehnlein, Oliver
AU - Herz, Josephine
TI - Hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in neonatal mice sequentially recruits neutrophils with dichotomous phenotype and function.
JO - Nature Communications
VL - 16
IS - 1
SN - 2041-1723
CY - [London]
PB - Springer Nature
M1 - DKFZ-2025-02270
SP - 9696
PY - 2025
AB - Neonatal encephalopathy caused by hypoxia-ischemia (HI) leads to a strong neutrophil infiltration. The long-held assumption that neutrophils act exclusively as tissue-damaging cells, is challenged by increasing evidence of a profound neutrophil heterogeneity. Here, we uncovered a pronounced phenotypical and functional diversification of neutrophils in neonatal mice depending on the disease stage. Neutrophil infiltration was biphasic, peaking 1 and 7 days after HI. Early brain-infiltrating neutrophils displayed a hyperactivated phenotype, whereas neutrophils at day 7 exhibited an angiogenic phenotype with high Siglec-F expression. Acute neutrophil depletion protected against neural cell death, associated with decreased hyperactivity in adolescent animals. Delayed neutrophil depletion impaired vascular and oligodendrocyte regeneration, resulting in exacerbated alterations of anxiety-related behavior and myelination deficits. These findings suggest a divergent function of neutrophils, with early neutrophils aggravating tissue damage and late neutrophils contributing to neurological recovery. The disease stage-dependent neutrophil diversification offers new possibilities to identify disease-stage-specific therapeutic targets.
KW - Animals
KW - Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain: immunology
KW - Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain: pathology
KW - Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain: physiopathology
KW - Neutrophils: immunology
KW - Neutrophils: metabolism
KW - Neutrophils: pathology
KW - Animals, Newborn
KW - Phenotype
KW - Mice
KW - Neutrophil Infiltration
KW - Mice, Inbred C57BL
KW - Brain: pathology
KW - Brain: immunology
KW - Oligodendroglia: pathology
KW - Male
KW - Disease Models, Animal
LB - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6 - pmid:41184264
DO - DOI:10.1038/s41467-025-65517-1
UR - https://inrepo02.dkfz.de/record/305622
ER -