Microglia recapitulate a hematopoietic master regulator network in the aging human frontal cortex.

ABSTRACT: Microglia form the immune system of the brain. Previous studies in cell cultures and animal models suggest altered activation states and cellular senescence in the aged brain. Instead, we analyzed 3 transcriptome data sets from the postmortem frontal cortex of 381 control individuals to show that microglia gene markers assemble into a transcriptional module in a gene coexpression network. These markers predominantly represented M1 and M1/M2b activation phenotypes. Expression of genes in this module generally declines over the adult life span. This decrease was more pronounced in microglia surface receptors for microglia and/or neuron crosstalk than in markers for activation state phenotypes. In addition to these receptors for exogenous signals, microglia are controlled by brain-expressed r

SUBMITTER: Wehrspaun CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4503803 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature