Phosphatidylserine exposure by developing astrocytes initiates microglia-mediated developmental cell death.

ABSTRACT: Developmental cell death is classically attributed to apoptosis, yet in mammalian retina, large numbers of developing astrocytes die non-apoptotically during a defined developmental window. Astrocyte death is important for patterning a cellular template that guides angiogenesis, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Here we show that healthy developing astrocytes initiate their own elimination by recruiting microglia via regulated exposure of the membrane lipid phosphatidylserine. Experimentally increasing phosphatidylserine exposure in astrocytes, but not neurons, accelerates their removal by microglia without changing how many astrocytes ultimately survive. This acceleration causes profound vascular defects resembling pathological features of retinopathy of prematurity. Genetic d

SUBMITTER: Paisley CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12871718 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature