Species-specific metabolic reprogramming in human and mouse microglia during inflammatory pathway induction

Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of the immune cells in response to inflammatory stimuli. This metabolic process involves a switch from oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to glycolysis, or alterations in other metabolic pathways. However, most of the experimental findings have been acquired in murine immune cells and little is known about the metabolic reprogramming of human microglia. In this study, we investigated the transcriptomic and metabolic profiles of mouse and iPSC-derived human microglia challenged with the TLR4 agonist LPS. We found that both species displayed a metabolic shift and an overall increased glycolytic gene signature in response to LPS treatment. The metabolic reprogramming was characterized by the upregulation of hexokinases in mouse microglia and phosphofructokinases in human microglia. This study provides the first direct comparison of energy metabolism between mouse and human microglia, highlighting the species-specific pathways involved in immunometabolism and the importance of considering these differences in translational research.