MECP2 Increases the Pro-Inflammatory Response of Microglial Cells and Phosphorylation at Serine 423 Regulates Neuronal Gene Expression upon Neuroinflammation

Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) is a critical transcriptional regulator for synaptic function. Dysfunction of synapses, as well as microglia-mediated neuroinflammation, represent the earliest pathological events in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here, expression, protein levels, and activity-related phosphorylation changes of MECP2 were analyzed in post-mortem human temporal cortex. The effects of wild type and phosphorylation-deficient MECP2 variants at serine 423 (S423) or S80 on microglial and neuronal function were assessed utilizing BV2 microglial monocultures and co-cultures with mouse cortical neurons under inflammatory stress conditions. MECP2 phosphorylation at the functionally relevant S423 site nominally decreased in the early stages of AD-related neurofibrillary pathology in the human temporal cortex. Overexpression of wild type MECP2 enhanced the pro-inflammatory response in BV2 cells upon treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-γ (IFNγ) and decreased BV2 cell phagocytic activity. The expression of the phosphorylation-deficient MECP2-S423A variant, but not S80A, further increased the pro-inflammatory response of BV2 cells. In neurons co-cultured with BV2 cells, the MECP2-S423A variant increased the expression of several genes, which are important for the maintenance and protection of neurons and synapses upon inflammatory stress. Collectively, functional analyses in different cellular models suggest that MECP2 may influence the inflammatory response in microglia independently of S423 and S80 phosphorylation, while the S423 phosphorylation might play a role in the activation of neuronal gene expression, which conveys neuroprotection under neuroinflammation-related stress.