Waves of microglial renewal across the human lifespan

Jane Flint Bridgewater

Fluctuant waves of scavengers,
from the 5th post-conception week:
amoeboid, migratory, clustered, bipolar and phagocytic,
their peak differential gene expression 
by the 9th, with variant maturation
by site and time, until age tires.

Cell form and function may coincide,
migration radial and tangential,
refining neurogenesis and wiring,
tracking milestones of tides,
pruning synapses,
callosal clusters at crossroad crests.

Hotspots of proliferation 
precede swells in local density,
replicated across emergent brain
tissue layers, whorls, regions
with different timings of neurodevelopment.
Job done, apoptosis death ensues.

Cycles of slow self-renewal
up to 2% a day maintain
a population for homeostasis 
throughout life, after microglial surge
in utero, infancy and early childhood.

Older child and adolescent data missing.

The beauty of young brains is needed too,
the wormlike transcription of their RNA.
An inspiring picture of our growing minds,
but do we have time
to comprehend and cure
where wiring goes awry?

The Science

Regeneration of human organs is mainly confined to the liver. Cell renewal is a more powerful property of humans, exemplified in this beautiful collaborative research documenting the spatiotemporal dynamics of microglial, ‘scavenger’ cells of the brain, vital in neurodevelopment.

The Poet

Jane Flint Bridgewater writes poetry in her retirement from cardiology practice in the West Midlands, UK.  A lifelong reciter with Poetry Society medals in her youth, she has shown a Humanities interest in her holistic approach to medical practice, championing patient empowerment, prevention & rehabilitation, and women’s heart health.  Her poetry has focussed  on life experience, family and nature, reflecting her lifelong interest in both science and the arts. She has previously published in Consilience.

Next poem: Before The water by Philip Berry