Home › Research › Inflammation and the immune system
Blocking microglial activation of reactive astrocytes is neuroprotective in models of Alzheimer's disease
Park JS, Kam TI, Lee S, Park H, Oh Y, Kwon SH, Song JJ, Kim D et al.. Acta neuropathologica communications, 2021-04-26
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of age-related dementia. Increasing evidence suggests that neuroinflammation mediated by microglia and astrocytes contributes to disease progression and severity in AD and other neurodegenerative disorders. During AD progression, resident microglia undergo proinflammatory activation, resulting in an increased capacity to convert resting astrocytes to reactive astrocytes.
Key findings
- Increasing evidence suggests that neuroinflammation mediated by microglia and astrocytes contributes to disease progression and severity in AD and other neurodegenerative disorders.
- During AD progression, resident microglia undergo proinflammatory activation, resulting in an increased capacity to convert resting astrocytes to reactive astrocytes.
- Therefore, microglia are a major therapeutic target for AD and blocking microglia-astrocyte activation could limit neurodegeneration in AD.
- Here we report that NLY01, an engineered exedin-4, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonist, selectively blocks β-amyloid (Aβ)-induced activation of microglia through GLP-1R activation and inhibits the formation of reactive astrocytes as well as preserves neurons in AD models.
Why it matters
This study reports that blocking microglial activation of reactive astrocytes was neuroprotective in models of Alzheimer's disease. Because it was done in models, it is early and does not establish a treatment, cure, or prevention for people.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 50/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Acta neuropathologica communications) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Acta Neuropathologica Communications: journal h-index 129 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2021 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 189 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 27.0 citations a year over 7 year(s) since 2021 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 10.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 6 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 112 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Seulki Lee: h-index 66 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Johns Hopkins University: institution h-index 2,306 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 33902708) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 50 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1186/s40478-021-01180-z
- PubMed: 33902708
- Original source →
- Free full text: Acta Neuropathologica Communications →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Park, J. S., Kam, T. I., Lee, S., Park, H., Oh, Y., Kwon, S. H., et al. (2021). Blocking microglial activation of reactive astrocytes is neuroprotective in models of Alzheimer's disease. Acta neuropathologica communications. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-021-01180-z
Vancouver
Park JS, Kam TI, Lee S, Park H, Oh Y, Kwon SH, et al. Blocking microglial activation of reactive astrocytes is neuroprotective in models of Alzheimer's disease. Acta neuropathologica communications. 2021. doi:10.1186/s40478-021-01180-z. PMID: 33902708.
BibTeX
@article{park2021-33902708,
author = {Park, J. S. and Kam, T. I. and Lee, S. and Park, H. and Oh, Y. and Kwon, S. H. and Song, J. J. and Kim, D. and others},
title = {{Blocking microglial activation of reactive astrocytes is neuroprotective in models of Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Acta neuropathologica communications},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1186/s40478-021-01180-z},
pmid = {33902708},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-021-01180-z}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
6 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Inflammation and the immune system
Also tagged “mice”
1,150 studies in the library carry the topic tag “mice”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,150 tagged studies.