biostudies-literatureUnknown15Banerjee ANational Institutes of HealthMicroglia are the primary resident immune cells of the central nervous system that maintain physiological homeostasis in the brain and contribute to the pathogenesis of many psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Due to the lack of appropriate human cellular models, it is difficult to study the basic pathophysiological processes linking microglia to brain diseases. In this study, we adopted a microglia-like cellular model derived from peripheral blood monocytes with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-34 (IL-34). We characterized and validated this <i>in vitro</i> cellular model by morphology, immunocytochemistry, gene expression profiles, and functional study. Our results indicated that the iMG cells developed typical microglial ramifieFrontiers in cellular neuroscience629279https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC8063054biostudies-literatureValidation of Induced Microglia-Like Cells (iMG Cells) for Future Studies of Brain Diseases.PMC8063054Chen JLu YDo KChen XBanerjee AMize TWu XfalseValidation of Induced Microglia-Like Cells (iMG Cells) for Future Studies of Brain Diseases.Microglia are the primary resident immune cells of the central nervous system that maintain physiological homeostasis in the brain and contribute to the pathogenesis of many psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Due to the lack of appropriate human cellular models, it is difficult to study the basic pathophysiological processes linking microglia to brain diseases. In this study, we adopted a microglia-like cellular model derived from peripheral blood monocytes with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-34 (IL-34). We characterized and validated this <i>in vitro</i> cellular model by morphology, immunocytochemistry, gene expression profiles, and functional study. Our results indicated that the iMG cells developed typical microglial ramifie2021-01-01T00:00:00Z20212025-04-04T14:35:14.058Z2022-02-09T15:51:41.215ZS-EPMC80630543389737010.3389/fncel.2021.629279