This sequence shows microglia rapidly engulfing
cells that die spontaneously in brain slice cultures. Several
Sytox Orange-labeled dead cell nuclei (yellow balls) are already
apparent at the start of this movie. When a cell dies in the
presence of a dead cell marker, its nucleus becomes labeled.
In this movie, a dead cell nucleus appears spontaneously in the
bottom right hand corner of the image. Within minutes, one
of the microglial cells extended a long process directly toward
the dead cell nucleus, engulfed it, and dragged it away. This
demonstrates that activated microglia can sense and respond very
rapidly to cell death events in brain tissues. Rapid clearance
may reduce secondary tissue damage due to release of toxic products
from dead cells. Tissue is P6 + 3 DIV.
