title: Genetics ignite focus on microglial inflammation in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: In the past five years, a series of large-scale genetic studies have revealed novel risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Analyses of these risk factors have focused attention upon the role of immune processes in AD, specifically microglial function. In this review, we discuss interpretation of genetic studies.  We then focus upon six genes implicated by AD genetics that impact microglial function: TREM2, CD33, CR1, ABCA7, SHIP1, and APOE. We review the literature regarding the biological functions of these six proteins and their putative role in AD pathogenesis. We then present a model for how these factors may interact to modulate microglial function in AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 800 S. Limestone St, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA. manasi.malik@uky.edu.
authors.forename: Manasi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 800 S. Limestone St, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA. ishita.parikh@uky.edu.
authors.forename: Ishita
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Parikh
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 800 S. Limestone St, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA. jared.vasquez@uky.edu.
authors.forename: Jared B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Vasquez
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA. conorsm@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Conor
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA. leontai@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA. bu.guojun@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Guojun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA. mladu@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Mary Jo
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: LaDu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA. david.fardo@uky.edu.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Fardo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA. bill.rebeck@georgetown.edu.
authors.forename: G William
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Rebeck
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 800 S. Limestone St, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA. steve.estus@uky.edu.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Estus
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000235:genetics*; D017628:Microglia / Q000473:pathology*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors