Some of today’s most cutting-edge treatments, from immunotherapy to gene editing, are based on the principle of swapping in more-functional versions of certain cell types or the genes within them. Now, in a study published yesterday (March 16) in Science Translational Medicine, researchers report they’ve achieved this in the mouse brain, clearing out a critical population of immune cells known as microglia and replacing them with new ones. Moreover, they say, this procedure led to an improvement in symptoms for mice with a neurodegenerative disease linked to microglial malfunction.
Though they’ve long received less attention than neurons, microglia play important roles in the brain, including clearing dead cells and defective proteins as well as shaping the formation of memories. Dysfunctional microglia have been linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, making them an attractive therapeutic target.
In the new study, researchers set out to try to replace microglia. Some types ...
