Radiotherapy induces persistent innate immune reprogramming of microglia into a priming state

More than half of all brain tumour survivors experience debilitating and often progressive cognitive decline after treatment with radiotherapy. Microglia, the tissue-resident macrophages of the brain, have been implicated in this decline. In response to various insults microglia can develop innate immune memory (IMM), which can either enhance (priming) or repress (tolerance) the response to subsequent inflammatory challenges. Here, we investigated whether radiation can affect the IMM of microglia by irradiating the brains of rats and later exposing them to a second inflammatory challenge. Transcriptomic profiling of microglia isolated from irradiated rats showed a stronger immune response to a second inflammatory insult demonstrating that radiation can lead to long-lasting molecular reprogramming of microglia. Transcriptomic analysis of post-mortem non-tumour brain tissue of glioblastoma patients indicates that radiation-induced microglial priming is conserved in humans. Targeting microglial priming after radiotherapy or avoiding further inflammatory insults could decrease progressive radiotherapy-induced cognitive decline. Bulk RNA sequencing analysis of FACS-isolated microglia from the whole brains of rats (sham-)irradiated with 14 Gy X-rays with following i.p. injection of PBS vehicle or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 6 weeks later . N = 4 per condition.