ArticleGlia2017
Generation of a microglial developmental index in mice and in humans reveals a sex difference in maturation and immune reactivity.
Article in Glia, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 238 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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
238 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 400 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sex-dimorphic gene regulation in murine macrophages across niches.Immunology and cell biology · 2025Pooled it
- The cytokines interleukin-6 and interferon-α induce distinct microglia phenotypes.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2022Pooled it
- Sickness and the Social Brain: Love in the Time of COVID.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Single-cell transcriptomic atlas of Alzheimer's disease middle temporal gyrus reveals region, cell type, and sex specificity of gene expression with novel genetic risk for MERTK in female.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Article
- Th17 effector cytokines induce shared and distinct microglial and endothelial cell responses in a mouse model for post-streptococcal encephalitis.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Maternal High-Fat Diet Induces Sex- and Estrous Cycle-Specific Glial Dysregulation in the Peripheral Offspring Retina.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Article
- Fibrinogen as a Driver of Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis in the Fetal Brain After Maternal Influenza.Research square · 2026Article
- NPC1 deficiency engages a lysosome-genome-immune program linked to neurodegeneration and cellular aging signatures.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Neonatal estradiol influences regional gene expression for early sex-specific inflammatory responses in the 5xFAD mouse model.Biology of sex differences · 2026Article
- Increased circulating TREM2Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Hyperlipidemia induces hippocampal inflammation and loss of vascularity and can be rescued by silencing RIPK1.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Impact of sex differences on microglial function in Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2026Review
- The actions of morphine on microglia and the underlying effects on associated adverse effects.Psychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Microglia Reprogramming in Glioblastoma: Stem Cell-Derived Factors as Emerging Immunomodulators.Cells · 2026Review
- Germ-free piglets display variable neuroinflammatory-like perturbations in prefrontal cortical microglia.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Captopril restores microglial homeostasis and reverses ASD-like phenotype in a model of ASD induced by exposure in utero to anti-caspr2 IgG.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Microglial Autofluorescence in the Brain and Retina is Dynamically Modulated by Systemic Inflammation.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2026Article
- Th17 effector cytokines induce shared and distinct microglial and endothelial cell responses in post-streptococcal encephalitis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Microglial epigenetic memory is associated with accelerated resolution of inflammatory pain induced by prophylactic macrophage-derived small extracellular vesicles.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Microglia in autism spectrum disorder: heterogeneity, immunometabolism, and synapse-related pathways.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
178 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Evidence suggests many neurological disorders emerge when normal neurodevelopmental trajectories are disrupted, i.e., when circuits or cells do not reach their fully mature state. Microglia play a critical role in normal neurodevelopment and are hypothesized to contribute to brain disease. We used whole transcriptome profiling with Next Generation sequencing of purified developing microglia to identify a microglial developmental gene expression program involving thousands of genes whose expression levels change monotonically (up or down) across development. Importantly, the gene expression program was delayed in males relative to females and exposure of adult male mice to LPS, a potent immune activator, accelerated microglial development in males. Next, a microglial developmental index (MDI) generated from gene expression patterns obtained from purified mouse microglia, was applied to human brain transcriptome datasets to test the hypothesis that variability in microglial development is associated with human diseases such as Alzheimer's and autism where microglia have been suggested to play a role. MDI was significantly increased in both Alzheimer's Disease and in autism, suggesting that accelerated microglial development may contribute to neuropathology. In conclusion, we identified a microglia-specific gene expression program in mice that was used to create a microglia developmental index, which was applied to human datasets containing heterogeneous cell types to reveal differences between healthy and diseased brain samples, and between males and females. This powerful tool has wide ranging applicability to examine microglial development within the context of disease and in response to other variables such as stress and pharmacological treatments.
Indexed as
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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.