Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41331253›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

A spatial atlas of the complement system uncovers unique expression patterns in postnatal brain development in mice.

Yingying Zhang, Brianna Watson, Ajitanuj Rattan, Tyrone Lee, Smriti Chawla, Ludwig Geistlinger, Yilin Guan, Finley B Lord, Minghe Ma, Takashi Miwa and 5 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Yingying ZhangProgram in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3435-1330
Brianna WatsonProgram in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6540-5330
Ajitanuj RattanProgram in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6564-2579
Tyrone LeeDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Core for Computational Biomedicine, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-7750-0448
Smriti ChawlaDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Core for Computational Biomedicine, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Ludwig GeistlingerDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Core for Computational Biomedicine, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Yilin GuanProgram in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Finley B LordProgram in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Minghe MaProgram in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4496-6240
Takashi MiwaDepartment of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Madhu GollaDepartment of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7729-2254
Barbara J CaldaroneMouse Behavior Core, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Wen-Chao SongDepartment of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Jeffrey R MoffittProgram in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. Jeffrey.Moffitt@childrens.harvard.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3836-3101
Michael C CarrollProgram in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. Michael.Carroll@childrens.harvard.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3213-4295

Funding

Regulation of Synaptic engulfment by human C4P50MH112491 · NIMH · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · PI Michael Craig Carroll, Beth Ann Stevens · 2017 to 2026
$29.5M
Rapid, Robust, and Routine: Multiplexed Microscopy for Spatially Resolved Whole-Transcriptomic Single-Cell Profiling and the Construction of Cell Atlases of all Tissues and in all OrganismsR01GM143277 · NIGMS · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · PI MOFFITT, JEFFREY · 2021 to 2024
$1.6M
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (Brain & Behavior Research Foundation) 32430NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM143277NIMH NIH HHS P50 MH112491U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) R01GM143277U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) P50MH112491
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Recent studies have found non-immunological roles of the classical complement pathway (CP) in brain development and its involvement in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. However, multiple complement activation pathways exist beyond the CP, but their expression and function remain poorly understood in the brain. Using MERFISH, we constructed a comprehensive spatial transcriptomic atlas of the complement system in mouse brains from late embryonic stage to adulthood. Here we show that most complement genes are expressed locally with a remarkable degree of cellular, spatial, and temporal heterogeneity and that complement regulatory mechanisms are distinct from the periphery. Beyond confirming the known expression of the CP, our measurements reveal endogenous expression of the alternative pathway (AP), notably the AP activator Masp3 in immature brains. Masp3 deficiency alters molecular structure of the brain and causes working spatial memory defects, indicating a role of Masp3 in brain maturation, potentially via modulation of AP activity.

Indexed as

BrainComplement System ProteinsAnimalsComplement ActivationComplement Pathway, AlternativeFemaleGene Expression ProfilingGene Expression Regulation, DevelopmentalMaleMannose-Binding Protein-Associated Serine ProteasesMiceMice, Inbred C57BLMice, KnockoutTranscriptomeComplement System ProteinsMannose-Binding Protein-Associated Serine Proteases

Identifiers

PMID41331253
PMCPMC12705658

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.