Fig. 1
A simplified microglial differentiation protocol can be used to produce large numbers of highly pure human microglia. Schematic showing the process of differentiation from iPSCs through the mesoderm lineage (days 0–3) and further promoting hematopoiesis (days 3–11). Primitive hematopoietic progenitor cells begin to appear on day 7 (black arrows) and by day 11 large numbers of round non-adherent HPCs are observed. Floating HPCs are then transferred into new medium to induce microglial differentiation for 27 days. The last 3 days of microglial differentiation include additional neuronal and astrocytic ligands to further educate microglia toward a brain-like, homeostatic environment. By day 38, large numbers of highly pure microglia that stain positively for both P2RY12 and TREM2 (> 94%) have been produced and are ready for experimentation