Science· 2017Q1
An environment-dependent transcriptional network specifies human microglia identity
- 1,327citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2017year
Short summary
Human microglia rapidly lose their specific gene expression in vitro, revealing an environment-dependent transcriptional network that dictates their identity and is altered in brain diseases.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Human microglia lose specific gene expression upon transfer to an in vitro environment.
- A transcriptional network controls microglia-specific gene expression programs.
- Many of these microglia-specific genes are altered in neurodegenerative and behavioral diseases.
- Altered gene expression is associated with noncoding risk variants.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Microglia play essential roles in central nervous system (CNS) homeostasis and influence diverse aspects of neuronal function. However, the transcriptional mechanisms that specify human microglia phenotypes are largely unknown. We examined the transcriptomes and epigenetic landscapes of human microglia isolated from surgically resected brain tissue ex vivo and after transition to an in vitro environment. Transfer to a tissue culture environment resulted in rapid and extensive down-regulation of microglia-specific genes that were induced in primitive mouse macrophages after migration into the fetal brain. Substantial subsets of these genes exhibited altered expression in neurodegenerative and behavioral diseases and were associated with noncoding risk variants. These findings reveal an environment-dependent transcriptional network specifying microglia-specific programs of gene expression and facilitate efforts to understand the roles of microglia in human brain diseases.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Science, 2017 · DOI ↗
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Field: Neurology (Neuroscience)
NeurologyNeuroscience