Eliminating microglia using a bioavailable colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) inhibitor, a receptor necessary for microglia survival, in a 5xFAD mouse model of AD showed amyloid-β plaques failed to form in the absence of microglia but when the CSF1R inhibitor was withdrawn, microglia repopulated and amyloid-β plaques developed similar to those in controls (Spangenberg et al., 2019). Here, CSF1R is linked to Alzheimer disease.