Endogenous microglia regulate development of embryonic cortical precursor cells

Abstract

Microglia play important roles in the damaged or degenerating adult nervous system. However, the role of microglia in embryonic brain development is still largely uncharacterized. Here we show that microglia are present in regions of the developing brain that contain neural precursors from E11 onward. To determine whether these microglia are important for neural precursor maintenance or self-renewal, we cultured embryonic neural precursors from the cortex of PU.1-/- mice, which we show lack resident microglia during embryogenesis. Cell survival and neurogenesis were similar in cultures from PU.1-/- vs. PU.1+/+ mice, but precursor proliferation and astrogenesis were both reduced. Cortical pre..