Tajie Harris

@tajieharris.bsky.social

Scientist interested in neuroimmunology, brain infections, Toxoplasma, cell death, cytokines, and more. Director of the BIG center and BIG T32 at the University of Virginia. Co-organizer of Woods Hole Immunoparasitology meeting. Dog mom and world traveler

If you study microglia in mice using CX3CR1-creERT2 or PLX drugs, our latest paper led by Isaac Babcock in Cell Reports is a must-read. TL;DR: CX3CR1-creERT2 hits peripheral macrophages long-term. PLX 5622 deletes them too. But combining them fixes the issue. #microglia #immunology (1/9)

The left side of the image depicts targeted green microglia and peripheral macrophages in CX3CR1-creERT2 mice. The right side shows that CX3CR1creERT2 targeting with a course of PLX5622 drug leads to green microglia and unlabeled brown peripheral macrophages.