ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2022
Brain region- and sex-specific transcriptional profiles of microglia.
Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Transcriptional analyses identify pericyte-centered signaling programs altered by sex and brain region in Alzheimer's Disease.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Redefining the timeline: a three-phase framework of hypothalamic microinflammation in metabolic disease.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2026Review
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- Microglial Adaptations to Chronic Nicotine in the Cerebellum: Proteomic Evidence for Neuroimmune Vulnerability.Journal of proteome research · 2026Article
- Not just neurons: glial mechanisms driving sex-specific vulnerability to withdrawal and relapse in substance use disorder.Frontiers in neuroendocrinology · 2026Review
- Neurogenesis and Neuroinflammation in Dialogue: Mapping Gaps, Modulating Microglia, Rewiring Aging.Cells · 2026Review
- Defining functional states and roles of microglia in neuropsychiatric disorders.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2026Review
- Interactions between Innate Immune Memory and the Central Nervous System.Neuroimmunomodulation · 2026Review
- Update on sex-specific microglia contribution to early synaptic dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2026Review
- Sex-specific transcriptional signatures of oxycodone persist during withdrawal and abstinence in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of heterogeneous stock rats.Addiction neuroscience · 2025Article
- Article
- Characterizing Microglia Morphology in the Frontal Cortex of Pair-Bonded and Unpaired Prairie Voles (International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Microglia Single-Cell RNA-Seq Enables Robust and Applicable Markers of Biological Aging.Aging cell · 2025Article
- Sex and Region-Specific Differences in Microglial Morphology and Function Across Development.Neuroglia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Biological sex, microglial signaling pathways, and radiation exposure shape cortical proteomic profiles and behavior in mice.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Molecular Rhythmicity in Glia: Importance for Brain Health and Relevance to Psychiatric Disease.Biological psychiatry · 2024Review
- Modulation of cannabinoid receptor 2 alters neuroinflammation and reduces formation of alpha-synuclein aggregates in a rat model of nigral synucleinopathy.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Microglia are resident macrophages of the brain, performing roles related to brain homeostasis, including modulation of synapses, trophic support, phagocytosis of apoptotic cells and debris, as well as brain protection and repair. Studies assessing morphological and transcriptional features of microglia found regional differences as well as sex differences in some investigated brain regions. However, markers used to isolate microglia in many previous studies are not expressed exclusively by microglia or cannot be used to identify and isolate microglia in all contexts. Here, fluorescent activated cell sorting was used to isolate cells expressing the microglia-specific marker TMEM119 from prefrontal cortex (PFC), striatum, and midbrain in mice. RNA-sequencing was used to assess the transcriptional profile of microglia, focusing on brain region and sex differences. We found striking brain region differences in microglia-specific transcript expression. Most notable was the distinct transcriptional profile of midbrain microglia, with enrichment for pathways related to immune function; these midbrain microglia exhibited a profile similar to disease-associated or immune-surveillant microglia. Transcripts more highly expressed in PFC isolated microglia were enriched for synapse-related pathways while microglia isolated from the striatum were enriched for pathways related to microtubule polymerization. We also found evidence for a gradient of expression of microglia-specific transcripts across the rostral-to-caudal axes of the brain, with microglia extracted from the striatum exhibiting a transcriptional profile intermediate between that of the PFC and midbrain. We also found sex differences in expression of microglia-specific transcripts in all 3 brain regions, with many selenium-related transcripts more highly expressed in females across brain regions. These results suggest that the transcriptional profile of microglia varies between brain regions under homeostatic conditions, suggesting that microglia perform diverse roles in different brain regions and even based on sex.
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