Microglia are an essential component of a healthy central nervous system. Overactivation of microglia in the central nervous system can lead to neurological disorders, including neurodegeneration. However, due to the unique environment in which microglia grow and develop, it is difficult to study the causes and effects of how microglia go into this type of state. Thus, trying to find a cell line that can model microglia-like behavior in vitro is an important step in trying to understand the mechanisms of neurological degeneration.
THP-1 cells are widely used due to their ability to differentiate into macrophage-like cells. The aim of this research project involves trying to differentiate THP-1 cells into their different macrophage-like states (M1/M2) and measuring gene expression to determine whether this cell line exhibits similar phenotypic characteristics of activated microglia, which also comprises of 2 states
