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Neuroimmunology

The origins of microglial cells

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 11, page 787 (2010)Cite this article

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There is much debate as to the origin of microglial cells — the resident macrophages of the CNS — and it has been proposed that haematopoietic progenitor cells are recruited from the blood and differentiate in the CNS in waves during the embryonic and perinatal stages of development (a process termed definitive haematopoiesis). Ginhoux et al. now show that microglial cells derive from primitive myeloid progenitors (which originate from the yolk sac) that arise before embryonic day 8 (E8.0) and are maintained independently of definitive haematopoiesis.

Initial data from congenic bone marrow chimeric mice and parabiotic mice — which have a common blood circulation — suggested that postnatal microglial cells are maintained in the CNS independently of circulating monocytes. Instead, they seem to be maintained by tissue-resident radio-resistant precursor cells.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Ginhoux, F. et al. Fate mapping analysis reveals that adult microglia derive from primitive macrophages. Science 330, 841–845 (2010)

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  1. Senior Editor, Nature Reviews Immunology,

    Olive Leavy

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  1. Olive Leavy
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Leavy, O. The origins of microglial cells. Nat Rev Neurosci 11, 787 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2960

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