The adenosine triphosphate (ATP) released by infected neurons activates the purinergic receptor P2Y12 on the surface of microglia, driving their directional migration to the site of infection and further promoting the secretion of inflammatory mediators such as C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), CCL5, IL-6, and TNF-α, thereby forming a cascade amplification effect (Liao et al., 2025). Here, TNF is linked to infection.