Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42720986›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of clinical investigation2026

Microglial GRB2 is essential for brain ventriculogenesis and cerebrospinal fluid homeostasis.

Phan Q Duy, Benjamin C Reeves, Huanxing Sun, Xueyan Peng, Pazhanichamy Kalailingam, Garrett Allington, Evan Dennis, Le Thi Hao, Lei Wang, David Rufino-Ramos and 18 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of clinical investigation, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

28 authors.

Phan Q DuyDepartment of Neurosurgery.
Benjamin C ReevesDepartment of Neurosurgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Huanxing SunSection of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Xueyan PengSection of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Pazhanichamy KalailingamCenter for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Garrett AllingtonDepartment of Neurosurgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Evan DennisDepartment of Neurosurgery.
Le Thi HaoDepartment of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Lei WangDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
David Rufino-RamosCenter for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Shujuan ZhaoDepartment of Genetics, School of Medicine, and.
Qiang LiDepartment of Neurosurgery.
Neel H MehtaDepartment of Neurosurgery.
William C DavalanDepartment of Neurosurgery.
Mason BlackerDepartment of Neurosurgery, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
Anthony J PiscopoDepartment of Neurosurgery, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
Shozeb HaiderSchool of Pharmacy, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Baojian FanDepartment of Neurosurgery.
Kedous Y MekbibDepartment of Neurosurgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Shuai ShaoSection of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Carol Nelson-WilliamsDepartment of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Tukiet T LamDepartment of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Benjamin P KleinstiverCenter for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Patricia L MusolinoDepartment of Neurology, and.
Seth L AlperDivision of Nephrology and Center for Vascular Biology Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Sheng Chih JinDepartment of Genetics, School of Medicine, and.
Erica L HerzogSection of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Kristopher T KahleDepartment of Neurosurgery.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Microglia play essential yet poorly understood roles in brain development, including axon guidance, regulation of neurogenesis, and pruning of neuronal projections. Congenital hydrocephalus (CH), characterized by enlarged ventricles filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), is a leading cause of pediatric brain surgery, but its molecular mechanisms remain unclear. We have identified what we believe to be novel, recurrent, damaging missense variants in the SH3-binding domain of the adaptor protein growth factor receptor-bound protein 2 (GRB2) in unrelated patients with CH. GRB2 is significantly coexpressed with 1 of its known upstream RTK partners, CSF1R, in the developing human brain, particularly in a microglial subtype associated with regulation of neural stem cells. IP validated GRB2-CSF1R binding in mouse microglial cells and a human monocyte cell line. Cx3cr1-Grb2fl/fl mice engineered with conditional deletion of Grb2 in microglia exhibit congenital absence of microglia and early postnatal severe communicating (nonobstructive) hydrocephalus, mimicking the condition of patients with the GRB2 mutation. The severe ventriculomegaly of Cx3cr1-Grb2fl/fl mice is associated with both depletion of cerebral cortical neurons and impairment of glia-lymphatic-mediated CSF flow. Together, these findings implicate a role of GRB2 in microglia that could be essential for brain development and CSF homeostasis.

Indexed as

BrainCerebrospinal FluidGRB2 Adaptor ProteinHomeostasisHydrocephalusMicrogliaMutation, MissenseAnimalsFemaleHumansMaleMiceMice, KnockoutGRB2 Adaptor ProteinGrb2 protein, mouseGeneticsMolecular geneticsNeurodevelopmentNeuroscience

Identifiers

PMID42720986
PMCPMC13668624

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.