An environment-dependent transcriptional network specifies human microglia identity

TLDR

Microglia are immune cells that protect and maintain the brain. Single‑cell epigenetic and transcriptomic profiling revealed that human and mouse microglia share conserved gene expression signatures and environmental responses, while species‑ or culture‑specific differences are linked to neurodegenerative disease genes. Gosselin et al., Science, p.

Abstract

Of mice and men's microglia Microglia are immune system cells that function in protecting and maintaining the brain. Gosselin et al. examined the epigenetics and RNA transcripts from single microglial cells and observed consistent profiles among samples despite differences in age, sex, and diagnosis. Mouse and human microglia demonstrated similar microglia-specific gene expression profiles, as well as a shared environmental response among microglia collected either immediately after surgery (ex vivo) or after culturing (in vitro). Interestingly, those genes exhibiting differences in expression between humans and mice or after culturing were often implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. Science , this issue p. eaal3222