CRISPRi/a platform in microglia uncovers regulators of disease states

Microglia, the innate immune cells of the brain, are emerging as key drivers of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease. In our new publication, we present a CRISPR-based screening platform to uncover mechanisms controlling microglia states and functions in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived microglia, enabling their functional characterization and therapeutic targeting.

This work was led by postdoc Dr. Nina Dräger, with contributions from other Kampmann lab members: Syd Sattler, Olivia Teter, Kun Leng, Jason Hong, and Giovanni Aviles.
It was a collaboration with Dr. Li Gan's lab, Data Tecnica International/NIH, Justin Ichida and Michael Ward.

Read the original paper here:

Dräger, N.M. et al. 
A CRISPRi/a platform in human iPSC-derived microglia uncovers regulators of disease states. 
Nature Neurosci (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-022-01131-4

 

Read the UCSF press release written for a general audience here:

Reprogramming the Brain’s Cleaning Crew to Mop Up Alzheimer’s Disease - New CRISPR Technology Puts Diseased Microglia Back on Track