Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Briefing
  • Published:

Shared and disease-specific glial gene expression changes in neurodegenerative diseases

We found evolutionarily conserved astrocyte and microglia subpopulations shared across multiple brain regions. We reveal similarities and differences between Alzheimer’s disease glia and Parkinson’s disease glia, as well as regional variance linked to disease pathology and neurodegeneration.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Three astrocyte and two microglia subpopulations shared across different brain regions.

References

  1. Fu, H., Hardy, J. & Duff, K. E. Selective vulnerability in neurodegenerative diseases. Nat. Neurosci. 21, 1350–1358 (2018). A review article that describes the biology underlying selective neuronal vulnerability.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Pandya, V. A. & Patani, R. Region-specific vulnerability in neurodegeneration: lessons from normal ageing. Ageing Res. Rev. 67, 101311 (2021). A review article that describes normal aging in relation to regional vulnerability.

  3. Gan, L., Cookson, M. R., Petrucelli, L. & La Spada, A. R. Converging pathways in neurodegeneration, from genetics to mechanisms. Nat. Neurosci. 21, 1300–1309 (2018). A review article on the common pathways shared by neurodegenerative diseases.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Hickman, S., Izzy, S., Sen, P., Morsett, L. & El Khoury, J. Microglia in neurodegeneration. Nat. Neurosci. 21, 1359–1369 (2018). A review article that summarizes the roles of microglia in neurodegeneration.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Brandebura, A. N., Paumier, A., Onur, T. S. & Allen, N. J. Astrocyte contribution to dysfunction, risk and progression in neurodegenerative disorders. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 24, 23–39 (2023). A review article that summarizes the roles of astrocytes in neurodegeneration.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Grubman, A. et al. A single-cell atlas of entorhinal cortex from individuals with Alzheimer’s disease reveals cell-type-specific gene expression regulation. Nat. Neurosci. 22, 2087–2097 (2019). The source of the entorhinal cortex data.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Lau, S. F., Cao, H., Fu, A. K. Y. & Ip, N. Y. Single-nucleus transcriptome analysis reveals dysregulation of angiogenic endothelial cells and neuroprotective glia in Alzheimer’s disease. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 25800–25809 (2020). The source of the prefrontal cortex data.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: Xu, J. et al. Human striatal glia differentially contribute to AD- and PD-specific neurodegeneration. Nat. Aging https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-023-00363-8 (2023).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shared and disease-specific glial gene expression changes in neurodegenerative diseases. Nat Aging 3, 246–247 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-023-00378-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-023-00378-1

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing