Lack of a site-specific phosphorylation of Presenilin 1 disrupts microglial gene networks and progenitors during development. Author Jose Ledo, Ran Zhang, Luka Mesin, Diego Mourão-Sá, Estefania Azevedo, Olga Troyanskaya, Victor Bustos, Paul Greengard Publication Year 2020 Type Journal Article Abstract Microglial cells play a key role in brain homeostasis from development to adulthood. Here we show the involvement of a site-specific phosphorylation of Presenilin 1 (PS1) in microglial development. Profiles of microglia-specific transcripts in different temporal stages of development, combined with multiple systematic transcriptomic analysis and quantitative determination of microglia progenitors, indicate that the phosphorylation of PS1 at serine 367 is involved in the temporal dynamics of microglial development, specifically in the developing brain rudiment during embryonic microgliogenesis. We constructed a developing brain-specific microglial network to identify transcription factors linked to PS1 during development. Our data showed that PS1 functional connections appear through interaction hubs at Pu.1, Irf8 and Rela-p65 transcription factors. Finally, we showed that the total number of microglia progenitors was markedly reduced in the developing brain rudiment of embryos lacking PS1 phosphorylation compared to WT. Our work identifies a novel role for PS1 in microglial development. Keywords Animals, Phosphorylation, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Female, Male, Brain, Transcriptome, Stem Cells, Gene Regulatory Networks, Microglia, Presenilin-1 Journal PLoS One Volume 15 Issue 8 Pages e0237773 Date Published 2020 ISSN Number 1932-6203 DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0237773 Alternate Journal PLoS One PMCID PMC7444478 PMID 32822378 PubMedPubMed CentralGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML