Fig. 4

Proposed roles of microglia in the developing retina. Microglia play important roles in phagocytosis, vascularization, and neurogenesis through distinct mechanisms during retina development. These include modulation of both hyaloid vessel regression and intraretinal vascular patterning, regulation of the numbers of astrocytes and some RGC subsets, and RPC cycling. Roles for microglia in retina synapse pruning have also been proposed, though direct evidence for these pathways awaits further study