ReviewNature neuroscience2025
Microglia as hunters or gatherers of brain synapses.
Review in Nature neuroscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed.
- Early-Life Manganese Overexposure Activates Microglial Phagocytosis through the YY1/TREM2 Axis Leading to Hippocampal Synaptic Remodeling in Mice.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Early amyloid pathology in mice synergistically worsens post-sepsis behavioral impairment and microglial synaptic phagocytosis.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Inflammatory Signatures of Tinnitus in Patients and Mice.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Article
- Inflammation increases the penetrance of behavioral impairment in Shank3 haploinsufficiency mice - can it explain the behavioral regression in Autism?Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Microbiota-Driven microglia reprogramming reverses depressive-like behaviors through Peripheral-to-Central immune crosstalk.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- TrkB promotes the neuronal secretion of soluble Siglec-2 (CD22) to mitigate microglial activation and alleviate depression-like behaviors in male mice.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Microglial tunneling nanotubes: an intercellular transfer facilitating mitochondrial dysfunction and neuroinflammation in experimental cerebral malaria.Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2026Article
- Microglia and neuroinflammation: function, heterogeneity, and crosstalk.Cellular & molecular immunology · 2026Review
- Role Shift of Glial Cells from Physiology to Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease: The Regulatory Impact of Exercise.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Review
- Substance abuse and inflammation: consequences beyond the brain.Trends in immunology · 2026Review
- Iba1 deficiency impairs microglial synaptic remodeling and neuronal survival after axonal injury.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Mll5 haploinsufficiency attenuates microglial phagocytosis through dysregulated TREM2-SGK3-GSK3β signaling and recapitulates ASD-like behaviors in mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Dual Role of Microglial TREM2 in Neuronal Degeneration and Regeneration After Axotomy.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The Arp2/3 complex is required for in situ haptotactic response of microglia to iC3b.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- Complement receptor 3 (CR3)-dependent microglial synapse elimination drives Parkinson's disease pathogenesis in systemic inflammation.Cell death & disease · 2026Article
- Infant gut microbiomes contribute to metabolic states that impact brain function.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
- Extracellular matrix proteolysis maintains synapse plasticity during brain development.Nature neuroscience · 2026Article
- Microglial phagocytosis in epilepsy: Mechanisms and impact.The Journal of physiology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Over a decade ago, it was discovered that microglia, the brain's immune cells, engulf synaptic material in a process named microglial pruning. This term suggests that microglia actively sculpt brain circuits by tagging and phagocytosing unwanted synapses. However, live imaging studies have yet to demonstrate how microglial synapse elimination occurs. To address this issue, we propose a new conceptual framework distinguishing between two potential mechanisms of synapse elimination, culling and scavenging. During culling, microglia may use a contractile ring to sever the neuronal plasma membrane, removing the unwanted synapse. During scavenging, synapse elimination is neuronal-driven, and the neuronal plasma membrane fission machinery sheds off synapses that are later phagocytosed by microglia. We will discuss the current limitations of studying microglial synapse elimination and evaluate evidence supporting either culling or scavenging. Discerning between these mechanisms is essential for determining the therapeutic value of phagocytosis modulators in diseases with altered brain connectivity.
Indexed as
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39663381What 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.