Here we characterize microglia transcriptional program across ten species spanning more than 450 million years of evolution. We find that microglia express a conserved core gene program of orthologous genes from rodents to human, including ligands and receptors associated with interactions between glia and neurons. In most species, microglia show a single dominant transcriptional state, while humans express significant microglia heterogeneity. In addition, we observed notable differences in complement, phagocytic and several critical signaling pathways that are enriched with susceptibility genes to brain disorders, including Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease in microglia of common animal models as compared to human. Our study provides an essential resource of conserved and divergent microglia pathways across evolution with important implications for future development of microglia-based therapies in humans. SOURCE: Ido Amit (ido.amit@weizmann.ac.il) -  Weizmann Institute of Science

Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE134706: Cross-species analysis across 450 million years of evolution reveals conservation and divergence of the microglia program (bulk RNA-seq)