eLife: Immune cells use the surface of blood vessels as a pathway, waiting for neurons to begin to form

• Microglia are immune cells in the brain and are the first line of defense against neuroreproductive diseases and traumatic brain injury

  
  

• However, the question of how the precursors of microglia reach different areas of the brain during development remains unanswered

  
  

• Now, researchers track these precursors within 24 to 60 hours of fertilization of zebrafish embryos to discover how they enter the developing retina

  
  

• They found that the precursor uses the surface of the blood vessel as a pathway to find the entrance to the retina, and waits for neurons to begin to form, and then completely settle on the retina

  
  

• In the future, this knowledge may lead to targeting microglia to treat neurodegenerative diseases

  
  

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Microglia are immune cells in the brain and are the first line of defense against neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic brain injury

"Microglia are associated with several neurobiological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease

Professor Masai and former OIST doctoral student Dr.

To reveal these requirements, the researchers performed transparent imaging of zebrafish embryos 24 hours to 60 hours after fertilization

"The developing brain is a very dense tissue," Professor Masai explained

However, the journey did not end there

To further determine that blood vessels and neurogenesis are important components of microglia migration, the researchers prevented blood vessel formation in one experiment and neurogenesis in another experiment

Dr.

Article title

Mechanisms underlying microglial colonization of developing neural retina in zebrafish