In a new paper published today in Nature Communications, the IND’s Condello lab found that tau-mediated neurodegeneration is driven by disease-activated microglia and suppressed by their pharmacological blockade. The authors identified drug dose–dependent and sex-dependent residual microglial phenotypes, neuronal excitotoxicity, and animal survival. Their data argue that therapeutic modulation of microglial activation by CSF1R inhibitors is a potential approach to treating human tauopathies but must consider sex-dependent effects.

Reference: Johnson, N.R., Yuan, P., Castillo, E. et al. CSF1R inhibitors induce a sex-specific resilient microglial phenotype and functional rescue in a tauopathy mouse model. Nat Commun 14, 118 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35753-w