ReviewDevelopmental neuroscience2025
Synaptic Pruning by Microglia: Lessons from Genetic Studies in Mice.
Review in Developmental neuroscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Exploring the Role of Microglial Cells in the Gut-Brain Axis Communication: A Systematic Review.Journal of neurochemistry · 2025Pooled it
- Immune-mediated excitotoxicity in brain disorders.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2026Review
- Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Synaptogenesis and Synaptic Refinement During Cerebellar Circuit Formation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Human Stem Cell-Derived Models of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimmune System.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Targeting the Complement-Microglia Axis for Neuroprotection in Pediatric Epilepsy.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Microglial synaptic pruning in early Alzheimer's disease: emerging roles of the IL-1β-NLRP3 axis.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Review
- The Molecular Machinery of Synaptic Plasticity and Its Potential Role in the Aetiology of Schizophrenia.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Disrupted maternal care alters neural-microglia interactions in the primate paralaminar (PL) nucleus of the amygdala.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Early-life gastrointestinal inflammation and the developing brain: Unravelling the pathways to long-term cognitive dysfunction.World journal of clinical pediatrics · 2026Review
- Electroacupuncture prevents CUMS induced depressive-like behaviors by inhibiting microglia-mediated synaptic pruning induced by gut dysbiosis.Chinese medicine · 2026Article
- Early Gut Microbiota and Neurodevelopmental Trajectories: Implications for Pediatric Neuropsychiatric Vulnerability-A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2026Review
- The aging gut-glia-immune axis in alzheimer's disease: microbiome-derived mediators of neuroinflammation and therapeutic innovation.GeroScience · 2026Review
- Complement receptor 3 (CR3)-dependent microglial synapse elimination drives Parkinson's disease pathogenesis in systemic inflammation.Cell death & disease · 2026Article
- Molecular Physiology of the Neuronal Synapse.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- Neuroinflammation and treatment resistance in major depressive disorder.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- The potential role of aberrant microglial synaptic pruning in the neurodevelopmental pathogenesis of tourette syndrome.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Decoding sialidase: physiological roles, pathological pathways, and clinical opportunities.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- Environmental endocrine disruptors at the synapse: mechanisms linking chemical exposure to cognitive and behavioral dysfunction.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Review
- Zebrafish in neurodevelopmental disorders studies: Genetic models and pathological involvement of microglia.Developmental medicine and child neurology · 2025Review
- Papain Affects the Percentage and Morphology of Microglia in Hippocampal Neuron-Glial Cultures.Brain sciences · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNeural circuits are subjected to refinement throughout life. The dynamic addition and elimination (pruning) of synapses are necessary for maturation of neural circuits and synaptic plasticity. Due to their phagocytic nature, microglia have been considered as the primary mediators of synaptic pruning. Synaptic pruning can strengthen an active synapse by removing excess weaker synapses during development. Inappropriate synaptic pruning can often influence a disease outcome or an injury response. SUMMARY: This review offers a focused discussion on microglial roles in synaptic pruning, based on the evidence gathered from genetic manipulations in mice. Genetically labeled microglia and synapses often allow assessment of their interactions in real time. Further manipulations involving synaptically localized molecules, neuronally or glial-derived diffusible factors, and their respective cognate receptors in microglia provide critical evidence in support of a direct role of microglia in synaptic pruning. KEY MESSAGE: We discuss microglial contact-dependent "eat-me," "don't-eat-me," and "find-me" signals, as well as recently identified noncontact pruning, under the contexts of neural circuit, brain region, developmental window, and an injury or a disease state.
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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.