Microglia articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is unclear if early pathological changes in normal-appearing multiple sclerosis (MS) tissue are reflected by molecular changes in microglia, which might contribute to lesion initiation. Here, authors demonstrate significant intrinsic differences in the human microglial transcriptome between grey and white matter regions, isolated from MS and non-neurological control donors, and show early microglial changes related to MS pathology.

    • Marlijn van der Poel
    • , Thomas Ulas
    •  & Inge Huitinga

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role of microglia following spinal cord injury is not fully understood. Here, using transgenic approaches to selectively label microglia and not macrophages in mice, the authors show that microglia are highly active and accumulate at the edge of the lesion in the first weeks post injury, and also that inhibiting microglia activation impairs recovery in the early stages after spinal cord injury.

    • Victor Bellver-Landete
    • , Floriane Bretheau
    •  & Steve Lacroix

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Previous studies have shown that depletion of microglia at early developmental stages leads to neuronal death. Here the authors use an inducible system to ablate microglia in adulthood, showing that such depletion leads to ataxia-like behavior and neuronal loss, and identifying the inflammatory components that may contribute.

    • Stephen J. Rubino
    • , Lior Mayo
    •  & Howard L. Weiner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Brain organoid models reported to date lack cells of mesodermal origin, such as microglia. Here, the authors demonstrate that mature microglia-like cells are generated within their cerebral organoid model, providing new avenues for studying human microglia in a three-dimensional brain environment.

    • Paul R. Ormel
    • , Renata Vieira de Sá
    •  & R. Jeroen Pasterkamp

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While previous studies had shown the requirement of TGFβ signalling in microglia gene expression, the specificity of the loss-of-function was unclear. Here, Zöller and colleagues generate microglia specific cKO of TGFβ receptor 2, and show dispensable function of Tgfbr2 in microglial survival and the requirement of Tgfbr2 in morphological and transcriptional homeostasis of adult microglia.

    • Tanja Zöller
    • , Artur Schneider
    •  & Björn Spittau

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Aging is associated with various changes in the brain, including transcription alteration. Here, Bradshaw and colleagues describe the transcriptome of aged human cortical microglia, and show age-related gene expression as related to neurodegeneration.

    • Marta Olah
    • , Ellis Patrick
    •  & Elizabeth M. Bradshaw

  • Article
    | Open Access

    TRPV1 is known to be expressed in peripheral structures and the spinal cord, especially for pain processing. Here the authors show that in the brain, in particular the anterior cingulate cortex, TRPV1 is functionally expressed in microglia; stimulation of TRPV1 activates microglia, which in turn affects glutamatergic neurotransmission.

    • Maria Cristina Marrone
    • , Annunziato Morabito
    •  & Silvia Marinelli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Unlike males, female mice are resistant to hypothalamic inflammation and weight gain when fed a high-fat diet. Here, the authors reveal sex-specific regulation of hypothalamic microglial activation through CX3CR1 signalling, providing a potential mechanism for differential susceptibility to diet-induced obesity.

    • Mauricio D. Dorfman
    • , Jordan E. Krull
    •  & Joshua P. Thaler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microglia contribute to shaping neural circuits in the developing brain. Here, the authors show that microglial contact with pyramidal neuron dendrites induces synapse formation in the developing somatosensory cortex, and ablation of microglia reduces synaptic connections from L4 to L2/3 neurons.

    • Akiko Miyamoto
    • , Hiroaki Wake
    •  & Junichi Nabekura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Purinergic receptor activation by extracellular ATP in the dorsal horn contributes to neuropathic pain, but which cell types release ATP in this context is not known. The authors show in a mouse model of neuropathic pain that ATP is released by dorsal horn neurons, a process requiring the vesicular nucleotide transporter, VNUT.

    • Takahiro Masuda
    • , Yui Ozono
    •  & Kazuhide Inoue

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microglia and monocytes contribute to neuropathic pain states, but the precise role of the two cell types is not clear. Here Peng et al.use temporally controlled ablation of monocytes and microglia in mice to show that these cells work together to initiate neuropathic-pain like behaviour, but are less important in the maintenance phase.

    • Jiyun Peng
    • , Nan Gu
    •  & Long-Jun Wu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Long-term use of opioids can lead to a paradoxical increase in pain sensitivity. Here, Hayashi et al. link activation of potassium channels on microglia with morphine-induced hyperalgesia and anti-nociceptive tolerance in mice.

    • Yoshinori Hayashi
    • , Saori Morinaga
    •  & Hiroshi Nakanishi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In response to brain injury, microglia extend processes to isolate the lesion. Here Choi et al. show that microglia expressing a pathogenic mutation in the Parkinson’s disease-associated LRRK2 gene show reduced motility and delayed lesion isolation in vitro and in vivodue to attenuated focal adhesion kinase activity.

    • Insup Choi
    • , Beomsue Kim
    •  & Eun-Hye Joe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Epileptic seizures generate aberrant neurogenesis in the adult mouse hippocampal region but how animals cope with abnormal neurogenesis remains unknown. Here the authors show that microglia are activated through TLR9 signaling and that this leads to sustained expression of TNF-α which attenuates induced aberrant neurogenesis.

    • Taito Matsuda
    • , Naoya Murao
    •  & Kinichi Nakashima

  • Article |

    In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), β-amyloid plaques are tightly enveloped by microglia but the significance of this phenomenon is unknown. Here the authors used confocal and in vivotwo-photon imaging in AD mouse models and revealed that microglia constitute a barrier that seems to prevent the formation of neurotoxic hotspots of protofibrillar β-amyloid.

    • Carlo Condello
    • , Peng Yuan
    •  & Jaime Grutzendler

  • Article |

    Microglia colonize germinal regions of the developing cerebral cortex and contribute to the regulation of neurogenesis but the mechanisms that regulate this are not clear. Here the authors show that brain progenitor cells, through the secretion of the chemokine Cxcl12, drive microglia to cluster into the germinal regions of the developing mouse cerebral cortex.

    • Benedetta Arnò
    • , Francesca Grassivaro
    •  & Luca Muzio

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microglia play essential roles in sculpting synaptic connections during brain development but their role in the adult brain is less clear. Here the authors show that activated microglia can prophylactically protect the adult rodent brain from injury by migrating to and displacing inhibitory synapses from cortical neurons.

    • Zhihong Chen
    • , Walid Jalabi
    •  & Bruce D. Trapp

  • Article |

    The removal of dying neurons by microglia plays a key role in both vertebrate nervous system development and several diseases. Here, the authors use a quantitative live imaging approach to investigate neuronal-microglial interactions at single-cell resolution and establish the functions of the phosphatidylserine receptors, TIM-4 and BAI1, in neuronal engulfment.

    • Fargol Mazaheri
    • , Oksana Breus
    •  & Francesca Peri

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In response to neuronal injury or disease, microglia adopt distinct reactive phenotypes via the expression of proteins, such as the purinergic P2X4 receptor. Here, Masuda et al.show that the transcription factor axis, interferon regulatory factor-8 and -5, drives the expression of P2X4 receptor in microglia and the adoption of a reactive phenotype after peripheral nerve injury.

    • Takahiro Masuda
    • , Shosuke Iwamoto
    •  & Kazuhide Inoue

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multiple sclerosis is characterized by the activation of microglia cells. Davalos et al. investigate the early stages of neuroinflammation in mice and reveal that the plasma protein fibrinogen induces microglial clustering around the brain vasculature, which facilitates lesion formation and focal axonal damage.

    • Dimitrios Davalos
    • , Jae Kyu Ryu
    •  & Katerina Akassoglou

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