ReviewNature neuroscience2016
A polarizing question: do M1 and M2 microglia exist?
Review in Nature neuroscience, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 953 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
953 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 1,513 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Maternal diet shapes neonatal microbiome ontogenesis and neurometabolic resilience.Gut microbes · 2026Article
- Mild and repetitive mild traumatic brain injury: Changes in microglial cells and synapses.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- Pharmacological modulation of cGAS-STING-NLRP3 signaling by nano-immunomodulators in Alzheimer and Parkinson disease.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Review
- Microglial states revisited: from homeostasis to disease.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026Review
- Engineering MSC-Derived Small Extracellular Vesicles for Targeted Cargo Delivery to the Injured Spinal Cord.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Heart failure-induced reprogramming of salt-evoked neurovascular coupling in the rat hypothalamus.The Journal of physiology · 2026Article
- Single-cell transcriptomics of human brain disorders.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Targeting C3aR/STAT3 signaling attenuates neuroinflammation and reverses neurological impairment in Neuromyelitis optica.Fundamental research · 2026Article
- Microglia and neuroinflammation: An in-depth analysis from functional diversity to disease mechanisms.Clinical and translational medicine · 2026Review
- The Invasive Margin of Glioblastoma as a Molecular Ecosystem: Spatial Heterogeneity, Tumor-Host Interactions, and Therapeutic Opportunities.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- TAB2 Causes Neuronal Damage by Aggravating Microglia-Mediated Neuroinflammation in Parkinson's Disease.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Correlative Effects of PARP12 mRNA Knockdown on Pro-inflammatory Gene Expression and Alternative Splicing in BV2 Microglial Cells.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Article
- Subchronic Cannabidiol (CBD) Treatment During the Silent Period Fails to Prevent Increased Seizure Susceptibility Following Lithium-Pilocarpine-Induced Status Epilepticus.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- A Lactate-H4K12la-HDAC1 epigenetic axis governs microglial state transitions during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in female mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The Dual Roles of Microglia- and Astrocyte-Derived Exosomes in Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury: from Intercellular Communication to Therapeutic Prospects.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Dynamic characterization of pathological and functional deterioration in a mouse model of optic neuritis related to neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- Microglia-Mediated Vascular Network Remodeling After Ischemic Stroke: An Immunovascular Repair Framework.Cells · 2026Review
- Article
- Reshaping the immune landscape: next-generation microglia-targeted therapies for Alzheimer's disease.Biological research · 2026Review
893 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Microglial research has entered a fertile, dynamic phase characterized by novel technologies including two-photon imaging, whole-genome transcriptomic and epigenomic analysis with complementary bioinformatics, unbiased proteomics, cytometry by time of flight (CyTOF; Fluidigm) cytometry, and complex high-content experimental models including slice culture and zebrafish. Against this vivid background of newly emerging data, investigators will encounter in the microglial research literature a body of published work using the terminology of macrophage polarization, most commonly into the M1 and M2 phenotypes. It is the assertion of this opinion piece that microglial polarization has not been established by research findings. Rather, the adoption of this schema was undertaken in an attempt to simplify data interpretation at a time when the ontogeny and functional significance of microglia had not yet been characterized. Now, terminology suggesting established meaningful pathways of microglial polarization hinders rather than aids research progress and should be discarded.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.