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Brain microglia: watchdogs with pedigree

Microglia have been regarded as the tissue macrophages of the brain. A study now finds that microglia are quite distinct from blood-borne macrophages and derive from an erythromyeloid precursor cell of the embryonic hematopoiesis.

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Figure 1: Pedigrees of microglial and macrophage lineages.

Katie Vicari

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Correspondence to Hartmut Wekerle.

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Neumann, H., Wekerle, H. Brain microglia: watchdogs with pedigree. Nat Neurosci 16, 253–255 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3338

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