The DOI matches its Crossref record; 57 of the 58 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The transcription factor PU.1 is critical for viability and function of human brain microglia
Abstract
Microglia are the predominant resident immune cells of the brain and can assume a range of phenotypes. They are critical for normal brain development and function but can also contribute to many disease processes. Although they are widely studied, the transcriptional control of microglial phenotype and activation requires further research. PU.1 is a key myeloid transcription factor expressed by peripheral macrophages and rodent microglia. In this article, we report the presence of PU.1 specifically in microglia of the adult human brain and we examine its functional role in primary human microglia. Using siRNA, we achieved substantial PU.1 protein knock‐down in vitro . By assessing a range of characteristic microglial proteins we found decreased viability of adult human microglia with reduced PU.1 protein expression. This observation was confirmed with PU.1 antisense DNA oligonucleotides. An important function of microglia is to clear debris by phagocytosis. We assessed the impact of loss of PU.1 on microglial phagocytosis and show that PU.1 siRNA reduces the ability of adult human microglia to phagocytose amyloid‐beta 1‐42 peptide. These results show that PU.1 controls human microglial viability and function and suggest PU.1 as a molecular target for manipulation of human microglial phenotype.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“In particular, PU.1 expression is dynamically and tightly controlled during haematopoiesis to direct the specification of CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells toward the myeloid and B-lymphoid lineage by progressively partitioning into CD14+ monocytes/macrophages, CD15+ neutrophils, and CD19+ B cells46”
From A common haplotype lowers PU.1 expression in myeloid cells and delays onset of Alzheimer's disease (2017) · cites this paper as [46]
In the citing paper
“which is well known for its pivotal role in microglial development and inflammation (Fig. 7, D to F) (15, 40).”
From Arresting the bad seed: HDAC3 regulates proliferation of different microglia after ischemic stroke (2024) · cites this paper as [40]
In the citing paper
“We have previously reported that PU.1 regulates zymosan phagocytosis (Huang et al., 2017) and others reported that PU.1 knock-down reduces Aβ42 uptake in human microglial cells (Smith et al., 2013).”
From Alzheimer's-associated PU.1 expression levels regulate microglial inflammatory response (2021) · cites this paper as Smith et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“In primary human microglia cultures siRNA mediated reductions in PU.1 resulted in a decrease in Amyloid-β 1-42 peptide phagocytosis41, in a similar manner to observations in BV-2 cells7,32.”
From Modest changes in Spi1 dosage reveal the potential for altered microglial function as seen in Alzheimer’s disease (2021) · cites this paper as [41]
In the citing paper
“Overall, this reinforces previous reports that reduced Spi1 seems to impact cell cycle which was not unexpected given the involvement of PU.1 in survival signalling11,41.”
From Modest changes in Spi1 dosage reveal the potential for altered microglial function as seen in Alzheimer’s disease (2021) · cites this paper as [41]
In the citing paper
“In human microglia cultures an siRNA mediated reduction of PU.1 resulted in a lower cell number, disintegration and rounding of some cells but at the final timepoint viability appeared unaffected. This suggests some microglia could survive with reduced PU.141.”
From Modest changes in Spi1 dosage reveal the potential for altered microglial function as seen in Alzheimer’s disease (2021) · cites this paper as [41]
In the citing paper
“silencing of PU.1 by siRNA in mixed human glial culture led to the reduced viability of microglia and decreased phagocytosis of amyloid-beta (A β 42) (Smith, Gibbons et al., 2013).”
From Pu.1/Spi1 dosage controls the turnover and maintenance of microglia in zebrafish and mammals (2023) · cites this paper as Smith, Gibbons et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“silencing of PU.1 by siRNA in mixed human glial culture led to the reduced viability of microglia and decreased phagocytosis of amyloid-beta (Aβ42) (Smith et al., 2013).”
From Pu.1/Spi1 dosage controls the turnover and maintenance of microglia in zebrafish and mammals (2025) · cites this paper as Smith et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“On the contrary, Spi1-knockdown also decreases microglial phagocytic activity in vitro, which may lead to an increase in the levels of toxic protein aggregates and dead cell debris1,7.”
From Effects of SPI1-mediated transcriptome remodeling on Alzheimer's disease-related phenotypes in mouse models of Aβ amyloidosis (2024) · cites this paper as [7]
In the citing paper
“Human genetic studies suggest that reduced SPI1 expression may be protective, whereas experimental data indicate that excessive PU.1 suppression can impair essential microglial functions.”
From Lymphoid-like Suppressive Microglia in Alzheimer’s Disease: A New Neuroimmune Regulatory Axis? (2026) · cites this paper as [32]
In the citing paper
“Because PU.1 is required for microglial identity and viability, excessive reduction may impair essential functions.”
From Lymphoid-like Suppressive Microglia in Alzheimer’s Disease: A New Neuroimmune Regulatory Axis? (2026) · cites this paper as [32]
In the citing paper
“This creates a central tension for Alzheimer’s therapeutics: lowering PU.1 may reduce risk-associated or inflammatory programs, but too much suppression could compromise microglial survival, plaque engagement, phagocytosis, or other protective functions.”
From Lymphoid-like Suppressive Microglia in Alzheimer’s Disease: A New Neuroimmune Regulatory Axis? (2026) · cites this paper as [32]
In the citing paper
“Earlier work in human microglia showed that PU.1 is critical for microglial viability and expression of characteristic microglial proteins, indicating that PU.1 cannot be viewed only as a disease-promoting factor [32].”
From Lymphoid-like Suppressive Microglia in Alzheimer’s Disease: A New Neuroimmune Regulatory Axis? (2026) · cites this paper as [32]
In the citing paper
“Previous studies investigating the therapeutic potential of PU.1 for Alzheimer's disease have relied primarily on in vitro experiments using cell culture systems [22, 37, 38].”
From Targeting Microglial Transcriptional Reprogramming as a Therapy Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease (2026) · cites this paper as [38]
In the citing paper
“On the other hand, PU.1 positively regulates phagocytosis, a potentially beneficial process critical for Aβ clearance in Alzheimer's disease pathology [37, 38].”
From Targeting Microglial Transcriptional Reprogramming as a Therapy Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease (2026) · cites this paper as [38]
In the citing paper
“in early‐stage Alzheimer's disease, increasing PU.1 activity may enhance microglial amyloid clearance”
From Targeting Microglial Transcriptional Reprogramming as a Therapy Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease (2026) · cites this paper as [38]
In the citing paper
“Mutant HTT expression in R6/2 microglia effectively 'primes' the cell by increasing expression of the myeloid transcription factor Pu.1”
From Microglial depletion prevents extracellular matrix changes and striatal volume reduction in a model of Huntington's disease (2020) · cites this paper as Smith et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“However, silencing of PU.1 by siRNA reduced the number of microglia and their ramification and phagocytosis of amyloid-beta peptide 1-42 (AB42) in mixed glial culture in their study [29].”
From Transcriptional and Epigenetic Regulation of Microglia in Health and Disease (2019) · cites this paper as [29]
In the citing paper
“PU.1 expression levels are similar in isolated human glial cells from biopsy and postmortem adult human brain tissues [29].”
From Transcriptional and Epigenetic Regulation of Microglia in Health and Disease (2019) · cites this paper as [29]
In the citing paper
“which is necessary for microglial differentiation and maintenance 21,22 and can induce macrophages from fibroblasts 23.”
From Efficient derivation of microglia-like cells from human pluripotent stem cells (2016) · cites this paper as [22]
Citations
Cites
Resting microglial cells are highly dynamic surveillants of brain parenchyma in vivo
Nimmerjahn, A., Kirchhoff, F., & Helmchen, F. (2005) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1110647 · Cited by 5,827
Fate Mapping Analysis Reveals That Adult Microglia Derive from Primitive Macrophages
Ginhoux, F., Greter, M., Leboeuf, M., Nandi, S., See, P., Gokhan, S., Mehler, M. F., Conway, S. J., Ng, L. G., Stanley, E. R., et al. (2010) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1194637 · Cited by 5,175
Microglia: Active sensor and versatile effector cells in the normal and pathologic brain
Hanisch, U.-K., & Kettenmann, H. (2007) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn1997 · Cited by 3,676
Bard, F., Cannon, C., Barbour, R., Burke, R.-L., Games, D., Grajeda, H., Guido, T., Hu, K., Huang, J., Johnson-Wood, K., et al. (2000) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/78682 · Cited by 2,012
Microglial cell origin and phenotypes in health and disease
Saijo, K., & Glass, C. K. (2011) · Nature Reviews Immunology · doi:10.1038/nri3086 · Cited by 1,100
Ponomarev, E. D., Veremeyko, T., Barteneva, N., Krichevsky, A. M., & Weiner, H. L. (2011) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/nm.2266 · Cited by 787
Microglia and neurodegeneration: The role of systemic inflammation
Cunningham, C. (2013) · Glia · doi:10.1002/glia.22350 · Cited by 769
Graeber, M. B. (2010) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1190929 · Cited by 608
Comparison of polarization properties of human adult microglia and blood‐derived macrophages
Durafourt, B. A., Moore, C. S., Zammit, D., Johnson, T., Zaguia, F., Guiot, M., Bar‐Or, A., & Antel, J. P. (2012) · Glia · doi:10.1002/glia.22298 · Cited by 470
Hematopoietic origin of pathological grooming in Hoxb8 mutant mice
Chen, S.-K., Tvrdik, P., Peden, E., Cho, S., Wu, S., Spangrude, G., & Capecchi, M. R. (2010) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2010.03.055 · Cited by 450
Cited by
Sorted by citations
An environment-dependent transcriptional network specifies human microglia identity
Gosselin, D., Skola, D., Coufal, N. G., Holtman, I. R., Schlachetzki, J. C. M., Sajti, E., Jaeger, B. N., O’Connor, C., Fitzpatrick, C., Pasillas, M. P., et al. (2017) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aal3222 · Cited by 1,220
“Within cell-specific enhancers, DNA sequences provide information about the identities of key LDTFs and the activity states of signaling pathways that control the functions of SDTFs (31, 33–35).”
BackgroundInfluentialMicroglia development and function
Nayak, D., Roth, T. L., & McGavern, D. B. (2014) · Annual Review of Immunology · doi:10.1146/annurev-immunol-032713-120240 · Cited by 1,154
Efficient derivation of microglia-like cells from human pluripotent stem cells
Muffat, J., Li, Y., Yuan, B., Mitalipova, M., Omer, A., Corcoran, S., Bakiasi, G., Tsai, L.-H., Aubourg, P., Ransohoff, R. M., et al. (2016) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/nm.4189 · Cited by 651
Sublime Microglia: Expanding Roles for the Guardians of the CNS
Salter, M. W., & Beggs, S. (2014) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.06.008 · Cited by 531
Human microglial state dynamics in Alzheimer’s disease progression
Sun, N., Victor, M. B., Park, Y. P., Xiong, X., Scannail, A. N., Leary, N., Prosper, S., Viswanathan, S., Luna, X., Boix, C. A., et al. (2023) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2023.08.037 · Cited by 462
A common haplotype lowers PU.1 expression in myeloid cells and delays onset of Alzheimer's disease
The International Genomics of Alzheimer's Project, Huang, K.-L., Initiative, T. A. D. N., Marcora, E., Pimenova, A. A., Di Narzo, A. F., Kapoor, M., Jin, S. C., Harari, O., Bertelsen, S., et al. (2017) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.4587 · Cited by 423
Self-citationCorces, M. R., Shcherbina, A., Kundu, S., Gloudemans, M. J., Frésard, L., Granja, J. M., Louie, B. H., Eulalio, T., Shams, S., Bagdatli, S. T., et al. (2020) · Nature Genetics · doi:10.1038/s41588-020-00721-x · Cited by 358
Phagocytosis in the Brain: Homeostasis and Disease
Galloway, D. A., Phillips, A. E. M., Owen, D. R., & Moore, C. S. (2019) · Frontiers in Immunology · doi:10.3389/fimmu.2019.00790 · Cited by 319
The Kaleidoscope of Microglial Phenotypes
Dubbelaar, M. L., Kracht, L., Eggen, B. J. L., & Boddeke, E. W. G. M. (2018) · Frontiers in Immunology · doi:10.3389/fimmu.2018.01753 · Cited by 260
Smith, A. M., & Dragunow, M. (2014) · Trends in Neurosciences · doi:10.1016/j.tins.2013.12.001 · Cited by 256
Self-citationMicroglia in the spinal cord and neuropathic pain
Tsuda, M. (2015) · Journal of Diabetes Investigation · doi:10.1111/jdi.12379 · Cited by 241
Mattei, D., Ivanov, A., Ferrai, C., Jordan, P., Guneykaya, D., Buonfiglioli, A., Schaafsma, W., Przanowski, P., Deuther-Conrad, W., Brust, P., et al. (2017) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/tp.2017.80 · Cited by 222
Human fetal microglia acquire homeostatic immune-sensing properties early in development
Kracht, L., Borggrewe, M., Eskandar, S., Brouwer, N., Lopes, S. M. C. D. S., Laman, J. D., Scherjon, S. A., Prins, J. R., Kooistra, S. M., & Eggen, B. J. L. (2020) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aba5906 · Cited by 213
Xu, R., Li, X., Boreland, A. J., Posyton, A., Kwan, K. Y., Hart, R. P., & Jiang, P. (2020) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-020-15411-9 · Cited by 200
Early life stress perturbs the maturation of microglia in the developing hippocampus
Delpech, J.-C., Wei, L., Hao, J., Yu, X., Madore, C., Butovsky, O., & Kaffman, A. (2016) · Brain Behavior and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2016.06.006 · Cited by 193
A role for human brain pericytes in neuroinflammation
Jansson, D., Rustenhoven, J., Feng, S. X., Hurley, D., Oldfield, R. L., Bergin, P., Mee, E. W., Faull, R. L. M., & Dragunow, M. (2014) · Journal of Neuroinflammation · doi:10.1186/1742-2094-11-104 · Cited by 174
Self-citationCrapser, J. D., Ochaba, J., Soni, N., Reidling, J. C., Thompson, L. M., & Green, K. N. (2020) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awz363 · Cited by 157
PU.1 regulates Alzheimer’s disease-associated genes in primary human microglia
Rustenhoven, J., Smith, A. M., Smyth, L. C., Jansson, D., Scotter, E. L., Swanson, M. E. V., Aalderink, M., Coppieters, N., Narayan, P., Handley, R., et al. (2018) · Molecular Neurodegeneration · doi:10.1186/s13024-018-0277-1 · Cited by 155
Self-citationAlzheimer's-associated PU.1 expression levels regulate microglial inflammatory response
Pimenova, A. A., Herbinet, M., Gupta, I., Machlovi, S. I., Bowles, K. R., Marcora, E., & Goate, A. M. (2021) · Neurobiology of Disease · doi:10.1016/j.nbd.2020.105217 · Cited by 120
Zhang, L., Silva, T. C., Young, J. I., Gomez, L., Schmidt, M. A., Hamilton-Nelson, K. L., Kunkle, B. W., Chen, X., Martin, E. R., & Wang, L. (2020) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19791-w · Cited by 139
Transcriptional and Epigenetic Regulation of Microglia in Health and Disease
Yeh, H., & Ikezu, T. (2019) · Trends in Molecular Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.molmed.2018.11.004 · Cited by 135
Genetic architecture of Alzheimer's disease
Neuner, S. M., TCW, J., & Goate, A. M. (2020) · Neurobiology of Disease · doi:10.1016/j.nbd.2020.104976 · Cited by 126
Johnson, F. K., & Kaffman, A. (2017) · Brain Behavior and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2017.06.008 · Cited by 127
Qiu, S., Palavicini, J. P., Wang, J., Gonzalez, N. S., He, S., Dustin, E., Zou, C., Ding, L., Bhattacharjee, A., Skike, C. E. V., et al. (2021) · Molecular Neurodegeneration · doi:10.1186/s13024-021-00488-7 · Cited by 126
Extracellular signal‐regulated kinase regulates microglial immune responses in Alzheimer’s disease
Chen, M. J., Ramesha, S., Weinstock, L. D., Gao, T., Ping, L., Xiao, H., Dammer, E. B., Duong, D. D., Levey, A. I., Lah, J. J., et al. (2021) · Journal of Neuroscience Research · doi:10.1002/jnr.24829 · Cited by 120
Smith, A. M., Gibbons, H. M., Oldfield, R. L., Bergin, P. M., Mee, E. W., Curtis, M. A., Faull, R. L. M., & Dragunow, M. (2013) · Journal of Neuroinflammation · doi:10.1186/1742-2094-10-85 · Cited by 107
Self-citationBIN1 is a key regulator of proinflammatory and neurodegeneration-related activation in microglia
Sudwarts, A., Ramesha, S., Gao, T., Ponnusamy, M., Wang, S., Hansen, M. T., Kozlova, A., Bitarafan, S., Kumar, P., Beaulieu‐Abdelahad, D., et al. (2022) · Molecular Neurodegeneration · doi:10.1186/s13024-022-00535-x · Cited by 110
Isolation of highly enriched primary human microglia for functional studies
Rustenhoven, J., Park, T. I.-H., Schweder, P., Scotter, J., Correia, J., Smith, A. M., Gibbons, H. M., Oldfield, R. L., Bergin, P. S., Mee, E. W., et al. (2016) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep19371 · Cited by 99
Self-citationFate of microglia during HIV‐1 infection: From activation to senescence?
Chen, N. C., Partridge, A. T., Sell, C., Torres, C. A., & Martín‐García, J. (2016) · Glia · doi:10.1002/glia.23081 · Cited by 94
Borggrewe, M., Grit, C., Den Dunnen, W. F. A., Burm, S. M., Bajramovic, J. J., Noelle, R. J., Eggen, B. J. L., & Laman, J. D. (2018) · Glia · doi:10.1002/glia.23517 · Cited by 91
Wang, S. K., Nair, S., Li, R., Kraft, K., Pampari, A., Patel, A., Kang, J. B., Luong, C., Kundaje, A., & Chang, H. Y. (2022) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1016/j.xgen.2022.100164 · Cited by 101
Chen, S.-W., Hung, Y.-S., Fuh, J., Chen, N.-J., Chu, Y., Chen, S.-C., Fann, M., & Wong, Y. (2021) · Stem Cell Reports · doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.03.010 · Cited by 83
Ralvenius, W. T., Andresen, J. L., Huston, M. M., Penney, J., Bonner, J. M., Fenton, O. S., Langer, R., & Tsai, L. (2024) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.202309225 · Cited by 78
Luo, T., Wu, J., Kabadi, S. V., Sabirzhanov, B. E., Guanciale, K., Hanscom, M., Faden, J., Cardiff, K., Bengson, C. J., & Faden, A. I. (2013) · Anesthesiology · doi:10.1097/aln.0000000000000020 · Cited by 76
A comprehensive profile of ChIP-Seq-based PU.1/Spi1 target genes in microglia.
Satoh, J.-I., Asahina, N., Kitano, S., & Kino, Y. (2014) · Gene Regulation and Systems Biology · doi:10.4137/grsb.s19711 · Cited by 74
Altered microglia and neurovasculature in the Alzheimer's disease cerebellum
Singh‐Bains, M. K., Linke, V., Austria, M. D. R., Tan, A. Y. S., Scotter, E. L., Mehrabi, N. F., Faull, R. L. M., & Dragunow, M. (2019) · Neurobiology of Disease · doi:10.1016/j.nbd.2019.104589 · Cited by 74
Self-citationGao, T., Jernigan, J. E., Raza, S. A., Dammer, E. B., Xiao, H., Seyfried, N. T., Levey, A. I., & Rangaraju, S. (2019) · Glia · doi:10.1002/glia.23678 · Cited by 68
Microglia recapitulate a hematopoietic master regulator network in the aging human frontal cortex
Wehrspaun, C. C., Haerty, W., & Ponting, C. P. (2015) · Neurobiology of Aging · doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2015.04.008 · Cited by 64
Glia in Neurodegeneration: The Housekeeper, the Defender and the Perpetrator
Sheeler, C. A., Rosa, J. S., Ferro, A., McAdams, B. D., Borgenheimer, E., & Cvetanović, M. (2020) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms21239188 · Cited by 61
Sabogal-Guáqueta, A. M., Marmolejo-Garza, A., de Pádua, V. P., Eggen, B. J. L., Boddeke, E., & Dolga, A. M. (2020) · Progress in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2020.101805 · Cited by 65
Zhang, G., Lü, J., Zheng, J., Mei, S., Li, H., Zhang, X., Ping, A., Gao, S., Fang, Y., & Yu, J. (2023) · Neural Regeneration Research · doi:10.4103/1673-5374.375343 · Cited by 58
Arresting the bad seed: HDAC3 regulates proliferation of different microglia after ischemic stroke
Zhang, Y., Li, J., Zhao, Y., Huang, Y., Shi, Z., Wang, H., Cao, H., Wang, C., Wang, Y., Chen, D., et al. (2024) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.ade6900 · Cited by 55
“7, D to F) ( 15 , 40 ).”
Microglial innate memory and epigenetic reprogramming in neurological disorders
Martins-Ferreira, R., Leal, B., Costa, P., & Ballestar, E. (2020) · Progress in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2020.101971 · Cited by 55
Malvaso, A., Gatti, A., Negro, G., Calatozzolo, C., Medici, V., & Poloni, T. E. (2023) · Cells · doi:10.3390/cells12242824 · Cited by 54
Lipponen, A., El-Osta, A., Kaspi, A., Ziemann, M., Khurana, I., KN, H., Navarro-Ferrandis, V., Puhakka, N., Paananen, J., & Pitkänen, A. (2018) · Acta Neuropathologica Communications · doi:10.1186/s40478-018-0519-z · Cited by 47
Xia, W., Luo, P., Hua, P., Ding, P., Li, C., Xu, J., Zhou, H., & Gu, Q. (2018) · ACS Chemical Neuroscience · doi:10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00243 · Cited by 46
Jones, R. E., Andrews, R., Holmans, P., Hill, M., & Taylor, P. R. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-94324-z · Cited by 39
Spatially resolved gene regulatory and disease-related vulnerability map of the adult Macaque cortex
Lei, Y., Cheng, M., Li, Z., Zhuang, Z., Wu, L. L., Sun, Y., Han, L., Huang, Z., Wang, Y., Wang, Z., et al. (2022) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-022-34413-3 · Cited by 47
Genetic risk factors for Alzheimer disease: emerging roles of microglia in disease pathomechanisms
Takatori, S., Wang, W., Iguchi, A., & Tomita, T. (2019) · Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-05542-4_5 · Cited by 44
Maurel, O. M., Torrisi, S. A., Barbagallo, C., Purrello, M., Salomone, S., Drago, F., Ragusa, M., & Leggio, G. M. (2021) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms22105157 · Cited by 44
Gao, C., Shen, X., Tan, Y., & Chen, S. (2022) · Journal of Neuroinflammation · doi:10.1186/s12974-022-02580-1 · Cited by 48
Smith, A. M., Graham, E. S., Feng, S. X., Oldfield, R. L., Bergin, P. M., Mee, E. W., Faull, R. L. M., Curtis, M. A., & Dragunow, M. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0080463 · Cited by 38
Self-citationRoutine culture and study of adult human brain cells from neurosurgical specimens
Park, T., Smyth, L. C. D., Aalderink, M., Woolf, Z., Rustenhoven, J., Lee, K., Jansson, D., Smith, A. M., Feng, S. X., Correia, J. A., et al. (2022) · Nature Protocols · doi:10.1038/s41596-021-00637-8 · Cited by 38
Self-citationIn vitro models of microglia: a comparative study
Woolf, Z., Stevenson, T. J., Lee, K., Highet, B., Foliaki, J. M., Ratiu, R., Rustenhoven, J., Correia, J. A., Schweder, P. M., Heppner, P. A., et al. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-99867-z · Cited by 40
Self-citationImplications of microglial heterogeneity in spinal cord injury progression and therapy
Fang, Y., Qin, Z.-H., Zhang, Y., & Ning, B. (2022) · Experimental Neurology · doi:10.1016/j.expneurol.2022.114239 · Cited by 33
Kang, S., Ughetta, M. E., Zhang, J. Y., Marallano, V. J., Sattiraju, A., Hannah, T., Wahane, S., Ramakrishnan, A., Estill, M. S., Tsankova, N. M., et al. (2025) · Nature Cancer · doi:10.1038/s43018-025-00985-4 · Cited by 34
Ihnatovych, I., Birkaya, B. G., Notari, E., & Szigeti, K. (2020) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms21249668 · Cited by 31
Motevasseli, M., Darvishi, M., Khoshnevisan, A., Zeinalizadeh, M., Saffar, H., Bayat, S., Najafi, A., Abbaspour, M. J., Mamivand, A., Olson, S. B., et al. (2024) · Acta Neuropathologica Communications · doi:10.1186/s40478-024-01837-5 · Cited by 33
Kim, B., Dabin, L. C., Tate, M. D., Karahan, H., Sharify, A. D., Acri, D. J., Al-Amin, M. M., Philtjens, S., Smith, D. C., Wijeratne, H. R. S., et al. (2024) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-024-48484-x · Cited by 28
“On the contrary, Spi1 -knockdown also decreases microglial phagocytic activity in vitro, which may lead to an increaseinthelevelsoftoxicproteinaggregatesanddeadcelldebris 1,7 .”
MethReg: estimating the regulatory potential of DNA methylation in gene transcription
Silva, T. C., Young, J. I., Martin, E. R., Chen, X. S., & Wang, L. (2022) · Nucleic Acids Research · doi:10.1093/nar/gkac030 · Cited by 26
Zimmer, T. S., Korotkov, A., Zwakenberg, S., Jansen, F. E., Zwartkruis, F. J. T., Rensing, N. R., Wong, M., Mühlebner, A., van Vliet, E. A., Aronica, E., et al. (2021) · Brain Pathology · doi:10.1111/bpa.12949 · Cited by 27
Maurya, S. K., Gupta, S., & Mishra, R. (2023) · Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnmol.2022.1072046 · Cited by 26
Liu, S., Li, L., Zhang, F., García-Corral, M., Meyer, K., Fortuna, P. R. J., van Sambeek, B., Appleton, E., Ng, A. H. M., Khoshakhlagh, P., et al. (2025) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-025-59596-3 · Cited by 24
Martin-Estebane, M., & Gomez-Nicola, D. (2020) · Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fncel.2020.00149 · Cited by 25
Song, Y., Zhang, Y., Wang, X., Han, X., Shi, M., Xu, L., Yu, J., Zhang, L., & Han, S. (2022) · Brain Pathology · doi:10.1111/bpa.13217 · Cited by 21
Shin, J., Bourdon, C., Bernard, M., Wilson, M. D., Reischl, E., Waldenberger, M., Ruggeri, B., Schumann, G., Desrivières, S., Leemans, A., et al. (2015) · Human Molecular Genetics · doi:10.1093/hmg/ddv294 · Cited by 20
Takatori, S., Kondo, M., & Tomita, T. (2025) · Inflammation and Regeneration · doi:10.1186/s41232-025-00383-4 · Cited by 28
Human Brain Neuropharmacology: A Platform for Translational Neuroscience
Dragunow, M. (2020) · Trends in Pharmacological Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tips.2020.09.002 · Cited by 23
Self-citationMicroRNA-124 Alleviates Retinal Vasoregression via Regulating Microglial Polarization
Chen, Y., Lin, J., Schlotterer, A., Kurowski, L., Hoffmann, S., Hammad, S., Dooley, S., Buchholz, M., Hu, J., Fleming, I., et al. (2021) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms222011068 · Cited by 20
Zhang, Z., Jin, P., Guo, Z., Tu, Z., Yang, H., Hu, M., Li, Q., Liu, X., Li, W., & Hou, S. (2023) · Molecular Neurobiology · doi:10.1007/s12035-023-03734-9 · Cited by 20
Hypoxia/ischemia impairs CD33 (Siglec-3)/TREM2 signaling: Potential role in Alzheimer's pathogenesis
Salminen, A., Kaarniranta, K., & Kauppinen, A. (2021) · Neurochemistry International · doi:10.1016/j.neuint.2021.105186 · Cited by 20
Multiomic single-cell profiling identifies critical regulators of postnatal brain
Clarence, T., Bendl, J. M., Cao, X. D., Wang, X., Zheng, S., Hoffman, G. E., Kozlenkov, A., Hong, A., Iskhakova, M., Jaiswal, M. K., et al. (2025) · Nature Genetics · doi:10.1038/s41588-025-02083-8 · Cited by 20
Galvis-Montes, D. S., van Loo, K. M. J., Waardenberg, A. J., Surges, R., Schoch, S., Becker, A. J., & Pitsch, J. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-49310-y · Cited by 17
Var, S. R., Strell, P., Johnson, S. T., Roman, A., Vasilakos, Z., & Low, W. C. (2023) · Cell Transplantation · doi:10.1177/09636897231171001 · Cited by 15
Genome-wide scan in Hispanics highlights candidate loci for brain white matter hyperintensities
Beecham, A. H., Dong, C., Wright, C. B., Dueker, N., Brickman, A. M., Wang, L., DeCarli, C. S., Blanton, S. H., Rundek, T., Mayeux, R. P., et al. (2017) · Neurology Genetics · doi:10.1212/nxg.0000000000000185 · Cited by 13
Chirico, F. D., Poeta, E., Babini, G., Piccolino, I., Monti, B., & Massenzio, F. (2022) · Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fncel.2022.1038721 · Cited by 11
Developmental dynamics of the single nucleus regulatory landscape of pig hippocampus
Yang, S., Chen, D., Xie, L., Zou, X., Xiao, Y., Rao, L., Yao, T., Zhang, Q., Cai, L., Huang, F., et al. (2023) · Science China Life Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11427-022-2345-2 · Cited by 11
Microglial phagocytosis in epilepsy: Mechanisms and impact
Barath, A. S., & Wu, L. (2025) · The Journal of Physiology · doi:10.1113/jp288573 · Cited by 17
One hundred thirty-four germ line PU.1 variants and the agammaglobulinemic patients carrying them
Knox, A. V. C., Cominsky, L. Y., Sun, D., Cabrera, E. C., Nolan, B. E., Ofray, E., Benetti, E., Visconti, C., Barzaghi, F., Rosenzweig, S. D., et al. (2025) · Blood · doi:10.1182/blood.2024026683 · Cited by 10
Zhang, Z., Ru, D., Liu, Z., Guo, Z., Zhu, L., Zhang, Y., Chu, M., Wang, Y., & Zhao, J. (2025) · MedComm · doi:10.1002/mco2.70157 · Cited by 10
Xu, Y., Liu, X., Chen, H., Zhao, Y., Zhao, Y., Xie, Y., Pang, J., Zeng, H., Zeng, Y., Peng, W., et al. (2025) · The Journal of Headache and Pain · doi:10.1186/s10194-025-02089-x · Cited by 9
Ledo, J. H., Zhang, R., Mesin, L., Mourão‐Sá, D., Azevedo, E. P., Troyanskaya, O. G., Bustos, V., & Greengard, P. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0237773 · Cited by 10
Pu.1/Spi1 dosage controls the turnover and maintenance of microglia in zebrafish and mammals
Wu, Y., Guo, W., Kuang, H., Wu, X., Trinh, T. H., Wang, Y., Zhao, S., Wen, Z., & Yu, T. (2025) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.105788 · Cited by 9
Hu, B., Zhuang, X.-L., Zhou, L., Zhang, G., Cooper, D. N., & Wu, D. (2024) · Molecular Biology and Evolution · doi:10.1093/molbev/msae001 · Cited by 8
Emerging Models to Study Human Microglia In vitro
Jäntti, H., Kistemaker, L., Buonfiglioli, A., de Witte, L. D., Malm, T., & Hol, E. M. (2024) · Advances in neurobiology · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-55529-9_30 · Cited by 8
Single-nucleus multi-omics identifies shared and distinct pathways in Pick’s and Alzheimer’s disease
Shi, Z., Das, S., Morabito, S., Stocksdale, J. T., Miyoshi, E., Srinivasan, S. S., Emerson, N., Shahin, A., Rahimzadeh, N., Cao, Z., et al. (2025) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.ads7973 · Cited by 9
Smith, A. M., Park, T., Aalderink, M., Oldfield, R. L., Bergin, P., Mee, E. W., Faull, R. L. M., & Dragunow, M. (2022) · Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fncel.2022.1047928 · Cited by 9
Self-citationHong, X., Chen, T., Liu, Y., Li, J., Huang, D., Ye, K., Liao, W., Wang, Y., Liu, M., & Luan, P. (2025) · Ageing Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.arr.2025.102669 · Cited by 9
Coupling of Alzheimer’s Disease Genetic Risk Factors with Viral Susceptibility and Inflammation
Cao, C., Fu, G., Xu, R., & Li, N. (2023) · Aging and Disease · doi:10.14336/ad.2023.1017 · Cited by 8
Transcriptional Regulation in Microglia and Neuropathic Pain
Masuda, T., Tsuda, M., & Inoue, K. (2016) · Pain Management · doi:10.2217/pmt.15.34 · Cited by 7
Wei, Z., Pan, X., Cui, X., Zhang, J., Dai, X., Zeng, Y., & Chen, X. (2025) · Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2025.1537388 · Cited by 7
USP22 inhibits microglial M1 polarization by regulating the PU.1/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway
Yu, M., Li, X., Ning, M.-L., Yan, Z.-Z., & Yu, W.-T. (2024) · Brain Research Bulletin · doi:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2024.111157 · Cited by 6
A Common Haplotype Lowers PU.1 Expression in Myeloid Cells and Delays Onset of Alzheimer's Disease
Huang, K.-L., Marcora, E., Pimenova, A. A., Di Narzo, A. F., Kapoor, M., Jin, S. C., Harari, O., Bertelsen, S., Fairfax, B. P., Czajkowski, J., et al. (2017) · doi:10.1101/110957 · Cited by 6
Self-citationChang, Y., Zheng, X., Wang, M., Zhang, Q., Gao, Y., Wang, Y., Sun, Y., Fan, H., Li, X., Du, L.-D., et al. (2026) · Phytotherapy Research · doi:10.1002/ptr.70177 · Cited by 5
Yu, M., Ou, Y., Wang, H., & Gu, W. (2021) · International Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/00207454.2021.1923017 · Cited by 5
A single-cell atlas of mouse olfactory bulb chromatin accessibility
Chen, Y., Ding, X., Wang, S., Ding, P., Xu, Z., Li, J., Wang, M., Xiang, R., Wang, X., Wang, H., et al. (2021) · Journal of genetics and genomics/Journal of Genetics and Genomics · doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2021.02.007 · Cited by 5
Mišković, R., Ljubičić, J., Nikolic, B. B., Petković, A., Marković, V., Ranković, I., Djordjevic, J., Stankovic, A., Klaassen, K., Pavlović, S., et al. (2024) · Frontiers in Immunology · doi:10.3389/fimmu.2024.1324679 · Cited by 4
Le, S., Xu, F., Luo, Z., Shi, W., Lu, S., Zhang, Z., Guo, Z., Xu, W., Yang, M., Li, T., et al. (2025) · BMC Genomics · doi:10.1186/s12864-025-11256-y · Cited by 4
Cell Type–Specific Nuclei Markers: The Need for Human Brain Research to Go Nuclear
Wiseman, J. A., Dragunow, M., & Park, T. (2021) · The Neuroscientist · doi:10.1177/10738584211037351 · Cited by 5
Self-citationPU.1 restores microglial dysfunction caused by C9ORF72 repeat expansions in neural organoids
Ljubikj, T., Mars, M., van der Geest, A. T., Jakobs, C. E., Bessler, N., Donega, V., van den Oetelaar, X. P. R. M., de Wit, M., & Pasterkamp, R. J. (2025) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awaf340 · Cited by 4
Metadata
- Authors
- Smith, A. M., Gibbons, H. M., Oldfield, R. L., Bergin, P. M., Mee, E. W., Faull, R. L. M., & Dragunow, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- Lab Plus Auckland New Zealand
- Corresponding author
- Dragunow, Mike
- Venue
- Glia
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-03-09
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 929-942
- ISSN
- 0894-1491 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-1136
- OpenAlex
- W2101108887
- Cited by
- 141
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 2.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Glia (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Clinical Neurology › Multiple Sclerosis Research Studies
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Phagocytosis and Immune Regulation
- Keywords
- PU.1, microglia, transcription factors, phagocytosis, amyloid-beta clearance, microglial phenotype, siRNA knockdown, antisense oligonucleotides, human brain
- MeSH terms
- Proto-Oncogene Protein Spi-1, Brain, Cell Survival, Cells, Cultured, Gene Expression Regulation, Humans, Phagocytosis, Proto-Oncogene Proteins, Trans-Activators, Microglia, RNA, Small Interfering
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
