CXCL10^high Microglia in Cerebral Malaria: Toward Translational Validation

Wang et al. identify CXCL10^high TNFα^high Ki67⁺ microglia as drivers of CD8⁺ T cell recruitment during experimental cerebral malaria (ECM). We propose a conservative reframing: rather than asserting a fully validated new taxonomy, CXCL10^high microglia should be considered a candidate "neuroimmune endotype" whose translational relevance requires clearly prespecified and testable validation in human disease. Priority validation steps include single-nucleus and spatial transcriptomics of human postmortem tissue, paired plasma/CSF biomarker correlation, and mechanistic assays of microglial antigen presentation. We caution against strong therapeutic inferences from ECM alone; translational work should first establish reproducible human microglial signatures and clinical correlations before precision-targeted interventions are proposed.