21 Apr 2021 Could it be that microglia build plaques rather than bust them? In the April 15 Nature Immunology, researchers led by Greg Lemke at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, add to the evidence for this idea. In a mouse model of amyloidosis, the researchers hobbled microglial phagocytosis by deleting the two primary receptors for this process, Axl and …

Jul 19, 2024 · In a manuscript uploaded to the Research Square preprint server, researchers led by Kathryn Monroe at Denali Therapeutics, South San Francisco, and Mathew Blurton-Jones at the University of California, Irvine, report that axing the gene in microglia gives these immune cells a boost. Despite oozing with lipid droplets, which have been previously associated with …

Jan 17, 2025 · Missense mutations that derail SORL1 trafficking cause AD. Other variants shift AD risk in East Asians and Europeans. SORL1 dysfunction messes with endosomes in neurons, and with lysosomes in microglia.

Jan 11, 2019 · Researchers debut a new PET tracer that binds specifically to activated microglia. In animal models, uptake in inflamed brain was twice that of healthy brain. Ditto in postmortem AD brain; human trials are being planned.

Nov 22, 2019 · Activated microglia release cytokines that trigger tau phosphorylation in neurons. Ablating microglial NLRP3 inflammasome curbed tangles in tau mice. It also prevented tangles caused by injected Aβ seeds.

14 Jul 2024 Microglia respond to proteinopathies by changing their shapes and expression profiles in different ways. Here’s one that has been somewhat overlooked: rod-shaped microglia. These long, straight cells have been observed in several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s, but few studies have characterized what they do. …

19 Apr 2024 Microglia seem to play a hand in every aspect of Alzheimer’s pathogenesis, from the seeding and clearing of plaques to the traveling of tau to the dying of neurons. Scientists are pursuing therapeutics that both promote their neuroprotective functions and put the kibosh on their neurotoxic behavior. At AD/PD, held March 5-9 in Lisbon, Portugal, researchers detailed …

Feb 12, 2025 · The elevated FFA levels observed in FIT2-deficient microglia warrant further investigation, particularly in the context of lipid metabolism and microglial homeostasis. From a therapeutic standpoint, targeting FIT2 would likely present significant challenges due to its higher expression in neurons and astrocytes than in microglia within the brain.

Mar 3, 2023 · As in microglia, chemokine and inflammatory gene expression waned, while sTREM2 in the culture medium rose. Altogether, the data suggested that MS4A4A helps microglia transition from a chemokine to an interferon state.

Jun 5, 2015 · Microglia also seem to require a full range of microorganisms. Adding a few select strains to the intestines of germ-free mice did nothing to restore microglia to health, but colonizing mice with a complex array of gut flora normalized their numbers and largely restored their shape. What connects gut microorganisms to the far-off brain?