ArticleThe EMBO journal2021
Microglial MERTK eliminates phosphatidylserine-displaying inhibitory post-synapses.
Article in The EMBO journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers.
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Who cites it
72 citing papers in PubMed, 103 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- The Xkr protein family-From apoptosis executors to diverse physiological functions regulators.FEBS letters · 2026Review
- Microglia extract neuronal proteolytic organelles via skoupocytosis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Phospholipid flippases ATP8A1 and ATP8A2 regulate GABAiScience · 2026Article
- Differential selectivity of microglia and astrocytes in HIV-1 gp120-induced synaptic pruning.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Iba1 deficiency impairs microglial synaptic remodeling and neuronal survival after axonal injury.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Viral modulation of synaptic pruning: implications for neuropathology and brain function.Journal of virology · 2026Review
- Microglial phagocytosis in epilepsy: Mechanisms and impact.The Journal of physiology · 2026Review
- C1q neutralization during epileptogenesis attenuates complement-mediated synaptic elimination and epileptiform activity.Epilepsia · 2026Article
- Assessing Aβ-independent effects of Module 42 on immune function in vitro.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Neuronal guidance signaling in neurodegenerative diseases: Key regulators that function at neuron-glia and neuroimmune interfaces.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- Phosphatidylserine exposure by developing astrocytes initiates microglia-mediated developmental cell death.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Microglial regulation of synaptic plasticity in transsynaptic degeneration of glaucoma.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Microglia in autism spectrum disorder: heterogeneity, immunometabolism, and synapse-related pathways.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Mertk promotes early microglial-mediated synaptic engulfment in Alzheimer's disease.Theranostics · 2026Article
- Microglia-Neuron Interactions in Alzheimer's Disease.Current neuropharmacology · 2026Review
- Roles of Glia in Synapse Nano-organization.Advances in neurobiology · 2026Review
- Microglial pathological synaptic pruning in epilepsy: pathophysiology and therapeutic potential.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Defining functional states and roles of microglia in neuropsychiatric disorders.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2026Review
- Dysregulated Microglial Synaptic Engulfment in Diffuse Midline Glioma.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Glia contribute to synapse elimination through phagocytosis in the central nervous system. Despite the important roles of this process in development and neurological disorders, the identity and regulation of the "eat-me" signal that initiates glia-mediated phagocytosis of synapses has remained incompletely understood. Here, we generated conditional knockout mice with neuronal-specific deletion of the flippase chaperone Cdc50a, to induce stable exposure of phosphatidylserine, a well-known "eat-me" signal for apoptotic cells, on the neuronal outer membrane. Surprisingly, acute Cdc50a deletion in mature neurons causes preferential phosphatidylserine exposure in neuronal somas and specific loss of inhibitory post-synapses without effects on other synapses, resulting in abnormal excitability and seizures. Ablation of microglia or the deletion of microglial phagocytic receptor Mertk prevents the loss of inhibitory post-synapses and the seizure phenotype, indicating that microglial phagocytosis is responsible for inhibitory post-synapse elimination. Moreover, we found that phosphatidylserine is used for microglia-mediated pruning of inhibitory post-synapses in normal brains, suggesting that phosphatidylserine serves as a general "eat-me" signal for inhibitory post-synapse elimination.
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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.