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Microglial spatial heterogeneity remains a crucial yet not fully answered question in the context of potential cell-directed therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD). There is an unclear understanding of the dynamics of distinct microglia states adjacent to or far from amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and their contributions to neurodegenerative diseases. Here we combine multicolor fluorescence cell fate mapping, single-cell transcriptional analysis, epigenetic profiling, immunohistochemistry and computational modeling to comprehensively characterize the relation of plaque-associated microglia (PAM) and non-plaque-associated microglia (non-PAM) in a mouse model of AD. We show that non-PAM are a distinct and highly dynamic microglial state, transitioning to PAM after Aβ plaque deposition in female mice. Non-PAM modulate the cell population expansion in response to amyloid deposition and rapidly respond to environmental cues. Indeed, Csf1 signaling modulates non-PAM-to-PAM transition during disease progression. Our data suggest that microglia states and their dynamics between each other can have distinct contributions to disease, and they may be targeted for the treatment of AD.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-02006-0 | DOI Listing |
Commun Biol
September 2025
Institute of Neuropathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Sleep is a complex behavior regulated by various brain cell types. However, the roles of brain-resident macrophages, including microglia and CNS-associated macrophages (CAMs), particularly those derived postnatally, in sleep regulation remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effects of resident (embryo-derived) and repopulated (postnatally derived) brain-resident macrophages on the regulation of vigilance states in mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2025
State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of Traditional Chinese Medicine and New Drugs Research, International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug De
Proliferative retinopathy is a leading cause of irreversible blindness in humans; however, the molecular mechanisms behind the immune cell-mediated retinal angiogenesis remain poorly elucidated. Here, using single-cell RNA sequencing in an oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model, we identified an enrichment of sorting nexin (SNX)-related pathways, with SNX3, a member of the SNX family that is involved in endosomal sorting and trafficking, being significantly upregulated in the myeloid cell subpopulations of OIR retinas. Immunostaining showed that SNX3 expression is markedly increased in the retinal microglia/macrophages of mice with OIR, which is mainly located within and around the neovascular tufts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2025
Department of Neuroscience, The Scripps Research Institute, San Diego, CA 92037.
Microglia regulate neuronal circuit plasticity. Disrupting their homeostatic function has detrimental effects on neuronal circuit health. Neuroinflammation contributes to the onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), with several microglial activation genes linked to increased risk for these conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2025
State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Although clinical research has revealed microglia-related inflammatory and immune responses in bipolar disorder (BD) patient brains, it remains unclear how microglia contribute to the pathogenesis of BD. Here, we demonstrated that Serinc2 is associated with susceptibility to BD and showed a reduced expression in BDII patient plasma, which correlated with the disease severity. Using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models of sporadic and familial BDII patients, we found that Serinc2 expression showed deficits in iPSC-derived microglia-like cells, resulting in decreased synaptic pruning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS Biol
September 2025
Department of Virology, Immunology & Microbiology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Despite the success of antiretroviral therapy in suppressing plasma viremia in people living with human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1), persistent viral RNA expression in tissue reservoirs is observed and can contribute to HIV-1-induced immunopathology and comorbidities. Infection of long-lived innate immune cells, such as tissue-resident macrophages and microglia may contribute to persistent viral RNA production and chronic inflammation. We recently reported that de novo cytoplasmic expression of HIV-1 intron-containing RNA (icRNA) in macrophages and microglia leads to MDA5 and MAVS-dependent innate immune sensing and induction of type I IFN responses, demonstrating that HIV icRNA is a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP).
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