microglia illustration
UCLA Health
Shown here in green are microglia, the brain’s immune cells, interacting with clumps of protein called amyloid plaques, shown in red, in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s. In the top row, the microglia surrounding the amyloid plaques show heightened reactivity and shortened extensions or branches. In the bottom row, microglia in mice with elevated TREM2 show more controlled immune response, more branched extensions and reduced plaque.