Upon infection or tissue damage, microglia act as the first line of defense and respond by the release of inflammatory mediators, such as interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, complement factors, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in addition to chemoattractants that stimulate the recruitment of peripheral immune cells, ultimately culminating in neuroinflammation (Colonna and Butovsky, 2017; Wolf et al., 2017). The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is infection.