Microglia's heroic battle against neurodegeneration.

ABSTRACT

In this issue of Neuron, Chadarevian et al.1 and Munro et al.2 demonstrate how the absence of homeostatic microglia leads to severe neuropathologies, including axonal spheroids, calcifications, myelination abnormalities, and gliosis, associated with leukoencephalopathy and age-related neurodegeneration. Transplantation of healthy microglia can reverse these conditions, opening new avenues for therapeutic research.