Study Points to Novel Role for Microglia in Down Syndrome

Overactive immune cells identified in a mouse model and in postmortem human brain tissue may offer a potential therapeutic target for cognitive delays associated with the condition, researchers report.

Written byCatherine Offord

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ABOVE: Confocal images showing activated microglia in hippocampal brain slices of a mouse with a murine version of Down syndrome
GIOVANNI MORELLI

Overactivation of the brain’s immune cells, called microglia, may play a role in cognitive impairments associated with Down syndrome, according to research published today (October 6) in Neuron. Researchers in Italy identified elevated numbers of the cells in an inflammation-promoting state in the brains of mice with a murine version of the syndrome as well as in postmortem brain tissue from people with the condition. The team additionally showed that drugs that reduce the number of activated microglia in juvenile mice could boost the animals’ performance on cognitive tests.

“This is a fabulous study that gives a lot of proof of principle to pursuing some clinical trials in people,” says Elizabeth Head, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine, who was not involved in the work. “The focus ...

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Meet the Author

Catherine Offord
After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.
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