An international research team led by Professor Kiavash Movahedi from the Brussels Center for Immunology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has published unexpected results in the journal Immunity. Their study sheds new light on the possibility of effectively replacing defective microglia—the brain’s immune cells—marking a potential breakthrough in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Microglia are essential for healthy brain function. Defective microglia are increasingly linked to the development of neurodegenerative disorders.

“Microglia are unique,” says Prof. Movahedi. “They originate early in embryonic development and maintain themselves throughout life without being replaced by new cells from the blood. That makes them special, but also vulnerable.”