Dead cells (green) in the subventricular zone of a mouse brain whose microglia lack two TAM receptorsSALK INSTITUTEIn the brain, microglia take out the trash, so to speak, by eating up cellular corpses. But their phagocytic activity is not limited to dead cells. A study published in Nature this week (April 6) reveals that, in regions of the mouse brain experiencing neurogenesis, the cells’ inactivity leads to an increase in new neurons.
“It appears as though a significant fraction of cell death in neurogenic regions is not due to intrinsic death of the cells but rather is a result of the microglia themselves, which are killing a fraction of the cells by engulfment,” coauthor Greg Lemke of the Salk Insitute for Biological Sciences said in a press release. “In other words, some of these newborn neuron progenitors are actually being eaten alive.”
Microglia are a type of macrophage present in the central nervous system. Lemke and his colleagues have been studying the role of so-called TAM receptors on the surface microglia, and wanted to know what impact they might have on neurogenesis. Knocking out two TAM receptors in microglia resulted in the buildup of apoptotic cells in ...
