{
  "abstract": "Brain perivascular macrophages maintain brain physiology, yet their transcriptional regulators and functions in health and disease remain unclear. Using single-cell multi-omics and functional experiments, we identify cellular musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma oncogene (cMAF) as a key transcription factor for brain perivascular macrophages, and conditional deletion of cMAF disrupts their phenotype in vivo. Functionally, cMAF drives insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) expression in perivascular macrophages, enabling communication with endothelial cells. Consistently, cMAF deletion in perivascular macrophages causes transcriptional alterations in cerebral arteries, affecting vascular functions. Notably, cMAF emerges as the main transcription factor for human perivascular macrophages, suggesting conservation of this transcriptional module. During Alzheimer's disease (AD), human perivascular macrophages upregulate cMAF and IGF1 to enhance communication with vascular cells, and this response is abrogated in APOE4 carriers. Lastly, we explore an uncharacterized polymorphism in cMAF, providing evidence that the cMAF program is protective against AD. Targeting cMAF in perivascular macrophages may offer new therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Center for Neuroimmunology and Glial Biology, Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: simone.brioschi@uth.tmc.edu",
    "Department of Pathology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA",
    "Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG) Center, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA",
    "Department of Biomedical Engineering, James McKelvey School of Engineering Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA",
    "Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA",
    "Abrams Research Center on Neurogenomics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9700AD, the Netherlands",
    "Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA",
    "San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-Tiget), IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan 20132, Italy",
    "Abrams Research Center on Neurogenomics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA",
    "Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; NeuroGenomics and Informatics Center, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA",
    "Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia 25123, Italy",
    "Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA",
    "Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Institute of Experimental Immunology, University of Zurich, Zurich 8057, Switzerland",
    "Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA",
    "McDonnell Genome Institute, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA",
    "Division of Immunotherapy, The Hiram C. Polk, Jr., MD Department of Surgery, Immuno-Oncology Program, Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA",
    "Departments of Dermatology and Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA",
    "San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-Tiget), IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan 20132, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan 20132, Italy"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 42,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Simone Brioschi",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3849-3926"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Julia A. Belk",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4724-6158"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Steffen E. Storck",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6965-2264"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Yue Wu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Zhuoying Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Ziang Feng"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Lynn van Olst",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7569-0470"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Josie L. Emery"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Raki Sudan",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9101-818X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Junjie Wu",
      "orcid": "0009-0004-2625-3230"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Siling Du",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1540-3585"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Marco Genua",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0764-8163"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Federica La Terza",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6129-6015"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Alex J. Edwards"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Khai M. Nguyen",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1298-6762"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Jessie Sanford",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5992-3027"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Daniel D. Lee",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1301-8501"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Mattia Bugatti",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5090-8338"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Arnold J Federico",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6135-9090"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Yun Chen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Zuoxu Wang",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2524-1217"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Silvia Penati",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9181-5210"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12
      ],
      "name": "Patrick Fernandes Rodrigues",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0214-0627"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Alina Ulezko Antonova",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6772-0545"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Hui Qi Loo",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0390-9047"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Igor Smirnov",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2373-6742"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Susan Gilfillan",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1672-0996"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        13
      ],
      "name": "Carmen M. Halabi",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4889-8131"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        14
      ],
      "name": "Jennifer Ponce"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        15
      ],
      "name": "Jun Yan",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0405-0502"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        16
      ],
      "name": "Howard Y. Chang",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9459-4393"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Gwendalyn J. Randolph",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9045-1195"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "William Vermi",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2291-2997"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Marina Cella",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1230-1313"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Michael P. Meers",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3438-3938"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        17
      ],
      "name": "Renato Ostuni",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0460-3426"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "David Gate",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0481-9657"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Aivi T. Nguyen",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1809-9451"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Carlos Cruchaga",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0276-2899"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Song Hu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Jonathan Kipnis",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3714-517X"
    },
    {
      "name": "Marco Colonna",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5222-4987"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/96e5kt36qw3qp.bib",
  "cited_by": 6,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.043",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "96e5kt36qw3qp",
  "issns": [
    "0092-8674",
    "1097-4172"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.043",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2808|Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms"
    ]
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  "openalex": "W7203467330",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13546755",
  "pmid": "42600613",
  "published": "2026-08-01",
  "publisher": "Cell Press",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/96e5kt36qw3qp.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:26:53Z",
      "native_id": "W7203467330",
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      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.043"
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2808|Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms",
      "subfield": "neurology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Brain perivascular macrophages regulate endothelial cell function via a cMAF-dependent transcriptional program in mouse and human",
  "title_text": "Brain perivascular macrophages regulate endothelial cell function via a cMAF-dependent transcriptional program in mouse and human",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T13:21:14Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/96e5kt36qw3qp",
  "venue": "Cell",
  "versions": []
}