Development of a rapid autopsy program for studies of brain immunity Anuja Ghorpade a,b,c,d,e, T , Leslie Bruch b,d , Yuri Persidsky a,b,c,d , Betty Chin a,b,c , William H.C. Brown a,b , Kathleen Borgmann a,b,c , Raisa Persidsky a,b,c , Li Wu a,b,c , Spring Holter a,b , Robin Cotter a,b , Jill Faraci a,b , David Heilman a,b , VaKara Meyer a,b , Jane F. Potter b,f , Susan Swindells b,f , Howard E. Gendelman a,b,c,d,f a Laboratories of Cellular Neuroimmunology, Neuropathology and Neuroregeneration, 985215 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5215, United States b Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Disorders, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States c Department of Pharmacology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States d Departments of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States e Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States f Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States Received 20 August 2004; received in revised form 12 January 2005; accepted 25 January 2005 Abstract Human glia are essential cellular models used for studies of neurodegenerative diseases. Fetal neuroglia are commonly used, as they can be recovered in large quantities and sustained for long periods in culture. However, fetal neuroglia may have limitations in reflecting adult diseases and additionally can pose ethical issues in translating products of abortion for research use. To address these concerns, we developed a rapid autopsy program to procure age- and disease-specific neuroglia from adult brain tissues within hours of death. The challenges in developing this initiative, reflecting experiences from 69 autopsies over 4 years, are presented. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Rapid autopsy; Microglia; Inflammation; Neurodegenerative diseases 1. Introduction Both mononuclear phagocytes (MP; macrophages and microglia) and astrocytes perform a variety of functions that affect central nervous system (CNS) homeostasis. Such processes are maintained through a variety of cellular immune functions including phagocytosis of dead or diseased tissue, mobilization of adaptive immune responses, and secretion of immunoregulatory factors that include neurotrophins (Benveniste, 1997a; Elkabes et al., 1996). During disease, MP secrete toxins that damage neurons and their connections (Cotter et al., 1999) in HIV-1-associated dementia (HAD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), among other disorders. An understanding of the role that brain MP play in nourishing nerve cells as well as in serving as instigators for disease has been the focus of much of our research efforts over the past decade, as MP play a critical role in the pathogenesis of most neurodegenerative disorders (Benveniste, 1997b; Benveniste et al., 2001; Gray et al., 2000, 2001; Langford and Masliah, 2001; Lue et al., 2001; Mankowski et al., 2002; Town et al., 2001; Williams and Hickey, 2002). Brain inflammation, thus, is a central event in producing neurodegenerative diseases. In this regard, studies of glial immunity are critical. In the past, these studies have predominantly used rodent, human fetal, transformed, and those neuroglia derived from transgenic and knockout mice 0165-5728/$ - see front matter D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jneuroim.2005.01.021 T Corresponding author. Laboratory of Cellular Neuroimmunology, Neuropathology and Neuroregeneration, 985215 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5215, United States. Tel.: +1 402 559 3549; fax: +1 402 559 8922. E-mail address: aghorpad@unmc.edu (A. Ghorpade). Journal of Neuroimmunology 163 (2005) 135 – 144 www.elsevier.com/locate/jneuroim