Selective accumulation of alpha-synuclein in microglia leads to progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons (Bido et al., 2021), and microglia-mediated plaque-driven loss of perineuronal nets and subsequent reduction of parvalbumin-positive interneurons in Alzheimer’s disease mouse model (Crapser et al., 2020). The gene discussed is SNCA; the disease is early-onset autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease.