Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by progressive neuronal dysfunction and loss. Microglia, the brain's resident macrophages, are key contributors to disease pathogenesis, with many genetic risk variants enriched in microglia-specific genes. While rodent models have provided valuable insights, human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) and embryonic stem cell (ESC) technologies now enable the generation of human microglia-like cells, offering a physiologically relevant platform to study human microglial biology. This review discusses the developmental origins and functions of microglia, current differentiation approaches, and how these models help elucidate disease-relevant phenotypes and molecular mechanisms in neurodegeneration.
Kim et al. (Sun,) studied this question.