Sex-specific microglial responses to glucocerebrosidase inhibition: relevance to GBA1-linked Parkinson disease

Microglia are heterogenous cells characterized by distinct populations each contributing to specific biological processes in the nervous system, including neuroprotection. To elucidate the impact of sex-specific microglia heterogenicity to the susceptibility of neuronal stress, we video-recorded with time-lapse microscopy the changes in shape and motility occurring in primary cells derived from mice of both sexes in response to pro-inflammatory or neurotoxic stimulations. With this morpho-functional analysis, we documented distinct microglia subpopulations eliciting sex-specific responses to stimulation: male microglia tended to have a more pro-inflammatory phenotype, while female microglia showed increased sensitivity to conduritol-B-epoxide (CBE), a small molecule inhibitor of glucocerebrosidase, the enzyme encoded by the GBA1 gene, mutations of which are the major risk factor for Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Interestingly, glucocerebrosidase inhibition particularly impaired the ability of female microglia to enhance the Nrf2-dependent detoxification pathway in neurons, attenuating the sex differences observed in this neuroprotective function. This finding is consistent with the clinical impact of GBA1 mutations, in which the 1.5–2-fold reduced risk of developing idiopathic PD observed in female individuals is lost in the GBA1 carrier population, thus suggesting a sex-specific role for microglia in the etiopathogenesis of PD-GBA1.