{
  "abstract": "Microglia are the primary resident immune cells of the brain, playing both protective and deleterious roles in neurological diseases, which makes them an enticing therapeutic target. Here we developed a Neural Microglia Integrated Multicellular iPSC-derived Cultured Spheroids (NeuroMIMICS) system that enables measurements of both neural network activity and immune responses using human iPSC-derived microglia, astrocytes, and neurons. We validated microglia functionalities in these neural tri-cultures including phagocytic activity, directed motility, and inflammatory responses. RNAseq analysis revealed a phenotypical acquisition of immune functionality via microglia incorporation, supported by increased cytokine production in spheroids challenged with pathogen-like insults. We then demonstrated that the incorporation of healthy microglia corrected alpha-synuclein A53T-mediated dysfunctional phenotypes in the neural spheroids. This work demonstrates a unique immunocompetent functional neural model that is robust and suited for high-throughput screening, laying the groundwork for its application to accelerate the discovery of new therapeutics for neurological diseases.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD USA"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jiajing Zhang",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7918-1040"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yi Wei Lim",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3965-4381"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Angelica Medina"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yu-Chi Chen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yining Irene Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Martin Carrasco Carvajal"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Marc Ferrer",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4569-9137"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Emily M. Lee",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8451-978X"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1fkwsen5j7qnm.bib",
  "cited_by": 1,
  "doi": "10.1038/s42003-026-10696-w",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13740307/",
  "id": "1fkwsen5j7qnm",
  "issns": [
    "2399-3642"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-10696-w",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2808|Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7168422259",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-10696-w_reference.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13740307",
  "pmid": "42457920",
  "published": "2026-07-15",
  "publisher": "Nature Publishing Group",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1fkwsen5j7qnm.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-10T12:21:35Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13740307",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-10696-w"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2808|Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms",
      "subfield": "neurology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Microglia integrated neural spheroids enable neuroinflammatory responses and correct network dysfunction induced by alpha-synuclein mutation",
  "title_text": "Microglia integrated neural spheroids enable neuroinflammatory responses and correct network dysfunction induced by alpha-synuclein mutation",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-10T12:21:35Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1fkwsen5j7qnm",
  "venue": "Communications Biology",
  "versions": []
}