ArticleNature communications2023
Translocator protein is a marker of activated microglia in rodent models but not human neurodegenerative diseases.
Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph
Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 122 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
122citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
19.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
122 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 158 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between FDG- and TSPO-PET signals across human and animal studies investigating neurodegenerative conditions: a systematic review.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Inhibition of p38α MAPK increases short-term astrocyte reactivity: the exploratory VIP trial in early Alzheimer's disease.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2025Trial
- Trial
- MINocyclinE to Reduce inflammation and blood-brain barrier leakage in small Vessel diseAse (MINERVA): A phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled experimental medicine trial.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2024Trial
- Whole-body TSPO-PET reveals stage-dependent disruption of systemic immune organ interactions in glioblastoma.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026Article
- Cell Death in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets.MedComm · 2026Review
- Molecular Mechanisms of Electroacupuncture-Induced Spinal Microglial Reprogramming in Neuropathic Pain: A Systematic Search-Narrative Review.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Multispectral photoacoustic microscopy and NIR-II fluorescence imaging of TREM2-positive microglia in Aβ-driven Alzheimer's pathogenesis.Fundamental research · 2026Article
- Astrocyte Activation Persists after Recovery of Myelin and Motor Deficits in the Cuprizone Model: a Longitudinal PET and CNS Tissue Analysis Study.Molecular imaging and biology · 2026Article
- Depletion of microglial compensation in glial network: Disease-associated response dynamics in the revised amyloid hypothesis.Neuroprotection (Chichester, England) · 2026Review
- Molecular imaging of immune and fibrosis targets to guide therapy for repair after myocardial infarction.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2026Review
- Neuroinflammation: an unfortunate term to describe schizophrenia.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Illuminating proinflammatory myeloid cells with PET tracers targeting GPR84.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Tracking of Neuroinflammation Dynamics During Combined Anti-β-Amyloid Therapy (AAT) and Immunomodulation in a Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells for chronic traumatic brain injury.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Feasibility of multimodal metabolic analysis for detecting early changes in acute neuroinflammation.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Network-Based Analysis for the Quantification of Brain and Body Immune Axes with Total-Body PET Imaging.Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine · 2026Article
- Multiscale Approximations to Understand the Complex Role of Microglia in Alzheimer's Disease.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Review
- Article
- From neuroinflammation to neural inference: computational psychiatry meets precision medicine.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Review
62 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
50 authors at 17 institutions in 10 countries.
Erik Nutma *Department of Pathology, Amsterdam UMC - Location VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7332-1636
Nurun Fancy *Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6481-6266
Maria Weinert *Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6187-1000
Stergios Tsartsalis *Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6565-6313
Manuel C MarzinDepartment of Pathology, Amsterdam UMC - Location VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Robert C J MuirheadDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Irene FalkViral Immunology Section, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Marjolein BreurDepartment of Pathology, Amsterdam UMC - Location VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Joy de BruinDepartment of Pathology, Amsterdam UMC - Location VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
David HollausDepartment of Pathology, Amsterdam UMC - Location VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Robin PietermanDepartment of Pathology, Amsterdam UMC - Location VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Jasper AninkDepartment of (Neuro)Pathology, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
David StoryUK Dementia Research Institute at Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Siddharthan ChandranUK Dementia Research Institute at Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Jiabin TangDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Maria C TroleseDepartment of Neuroscience, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research IRCCS, Milan, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4471-2491
Takashi SaitoLaboratory for Proteolytic Neuroscience, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Wako-shi, Saitama, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9659-9251
Takaomi C SaidoDepartment of Neurocognitive Science, Institute of Brain Science, Nagoya City University, Nagoya, Japan.
Katharine H WiltshireDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Paula Beltran-LoboDepartment of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Alexandra PhillipsDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Jack AntelMontreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5148-0636
Luke HealyMontreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9496-2216
Marie-France DorionDivision of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada.
Dylan A GallowayDivision of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada.
Rochelle Y BenoitDivision of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada.
Quentin AmosséDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5553-9594
Kelly CeyzériatDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Aurélien M BadinaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0005-1890-8986
Enikö KövariDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Caterina BendottiDepartment of Neuroscience, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research IRCCS, Milan, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1055-1271
Eleonora AronicaDepartment of (Neuro)Pathology, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3542-3770
Carola I RadulescuDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Jia Hui WongNeurobiology of Aging and Disease Laboratory, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7036-8121
Anna M BarronNeurobiology of Aging and Disease Laboratory, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4715-9364
Amy M SmithUK Dementia Research Institute at Imperial College London, London, UK.
Samuel J BarnesDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4030-6453
David W HamptonUK Dementia Research Institute at Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Paul van der ValkDepartment of Pathology, Amsterdam UMC - Location VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Steven JacobsonViral Immunology Section, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Owain W HowellInstitute of Life Science (ILS), Swansea University Medical School, Swansea, UK.
David BakerDepartment of Neuroscience and Trauma, Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Markus KippInstitute of Anatomy, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057, Rostock, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5043-9052
Hannes KaddatzInstitute of Anatomy, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057, Rostock, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1927-7344
Benjamin B TournierDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8027-7530
Philippe MilletDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5803-0478
Paul M MatthewsDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1619-8328
Craig S MooreDivision of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3333-435X
Sandra AmorDepartment of Pathology, Amsterdam UMC - Location VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. s.amor@amsterdamumc.nl.
David R OwenDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK. d.owen@imperial.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1198-7563
UK Dementia Research Institute · GBAmsterdam Neuroscience · NLUniversity of Geneva · CHMemorial University of Newfoundland · CAImperial College London · GBMario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research · ITMontreal Neurological Institute and Hospital · CANanyang Technological University · SGNational Institutes of Health · USQueen Mary University of London · GBUniversity of Rostock · DEBiomedical Primate Research Centre · NLKing's College London · GBNagoya City University · JPRIKEN Center for Brain Science · JPSwansea University · GBUniversity of Auckland · NZ
Funding
Multi-omic network-directed proteoform discovery, dissection and functional validation to prioritize novel AD therapeutic targetsU01AG061356 · NIA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI BENNETT, DAVID ALAN, DE JAGER, PHILIP L · 2018 to 2022
$13.7MPathway discovery, validation and compound identification for Alzheimer's disease - SupplementU01AG046152 · NIA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI BENNETT, DAVID ALAN, DE JAGER, PHILIP L · 2013 to 2017
$13.6MAlzheimer variants: Propagation of shared functional changes across cellular networksU01AG072572 · NIA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI DE JAGER, PHILIP L, ST GEORGE-HYSLOP, PETER HENRY · 2021 to 2025
$8.5MDeconstructing and modeling the single cell architecture of the Alzheimer brainRF1AG057473 · NIA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI BENNETT, DAVID ALAN, DE JAGER, PHILIP L · 2017 to 2018
$4.0MElucidating changes in astrocyte subpopulations associated with resistance to Alzheimers Disease pathology in multi-ethnic cohortsR01AG066831 · NIA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI MENON, VILAS · 2020 to 2024
$3.3MMedical Research Council MR/N008219/1Medical Research Council MR/N013255/1Medical Research Council MR/T031891/1NIA NIH HHS R01 AG066831NIA NIH HHS RF1 AG057473NIA NIH HHS U01 AG046152NIA NIH HHS U01 AG061356NIA NIH HHS U01 AG072572
Abstract
Microglial activation plays central roles in neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Positron emission tomography (PET) targeting 18 kDa Translocator Protein (TSPO) is widely used for localising inflammation in vivo, but its quantitative interpretation remains uncertain. We show that TSPO expression increases in activated microglia in mouse brain disease models but does not change in a non-human primate disease model or in common neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory human diseases. We describe genetic divergence in the TSPO gene promoter, consistent with the hypothesis that the increase in TSPO expression in activated myeloid cells depends on the transcription factor AP1 and is unique to a subset of rodent species within the Muroidea superfamily. Finally, we identify LCP2 and TFEC as potential markers of microglial activation in humans. These data emphasise that TSPO expression in human myeloid cells is related to different phenomena than in mice, and that TSPO-PET signals in humans reflect the density of inflammatory cells rather than activation state.
Indexed as
MicrogliaNeurodegenerative DiseasesAnimalsGenetic DriftMacrophagesMiceMyeloid Cells
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.