Mouse Microglia Marker IF Antibody Sampler Kit #90298

Microglia are the resident macrophages of the central nervous system, responsible for immune response and maintenance of CNS homeostasis (1). Ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1), also known as allograft inflammatory factor 1 (AIF-1), is uniquely expressed in cells of monocytic lineage and is, therefore, widely used as a marker for microglia/macrophages in the brain and other tissue (2,3). Transmembrane protein 119 (TMEM119) is a cell-surface protein of unknown function, expressed exclusively by the microglia subset of myeloid and neural cells (4). Iba1+ microglia with both ramified and amoeboid morphologies express TMEM119, while Iba1+ macrophages are TMEM119 negative (5). TMEM119 and other homeostatic genes have been shown to be downregulated in disease-associated microglia (DAM) (6). Cluster of differentiation molecule 11b (CD11b)/Integrin alpha M (ITGAM) is a transmembrane protein expressed by, and commonly used as a marker for, myeloid lineage cells, including neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, and microglia (7). F4/80 (EMR1) is a heavily glycosylated G-protein-coupled receptor and is a well-established marker for mouse macrophages (8-10). Expression of F4/80 has been observed in microglia and subset populations of dendritic cells (11). The protein phosphatase (PTP) receptor CD45 is a type I transmembrane protein expressed in all nucleated hematopoietic cells (12). Studies suggest CD45 plays a role in regulation of microglial activation (13,14). CD68 (macrosialin) is a heavily glycosylated transmembrane protein that is expressed by and commonly used as a marker for monocytes and macrophages (15,16). It localizes to the lysosomal membrane and is upregulated during microglial activation (17,18). Ki-67 is a nuclear nonhistone protein (19) universally expressed among proliferating cells and absent in quiescent cells (20). Previous work identifying markers of specific brain cell types using RNA-seq has shown HS1 and ASC/TMS1 to be useful and specific tools to study microglia (21). HS1 is a protein kinase substrate that is expressed only in tissues and cells of hematopoietic origin (22) and ASC/TMS1 has been found to be a critical component of inflammatory signaling where it associates with and activates caspase-1 in response to pro-inflammatory signals (23).