Annual Review of Physiology· 2016Q1· Review
Microglia in Physiology and Disease
- 1,432citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2016year
Short summary
Microglia, the brain's immune cells, constantly monitor their environment and activate in response to any brain disturbance, releasing substances that significantly influence disease outcomes.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Microglia are the brain's immune-competent cells, essential for maintaining normal brain function.
- They continuously screen their environment and activate in response to any pathology or change in homeostasis.
- Microglial activation is context-dependent and involves the release of numerous substances (cytokines, chemokines, growth factors).
- Microglia act as professional phagocytes and interact with other immune cells to manage brain's immunological response.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
As the immune-competent cells of the brain, microglia play an increasingly important role in maintaining normal brain function. They invade the brain early in development, transform into a highly ramified phenotype, and constantly screen their environment. Microglia are activated by any type of pathologic event or change in brain homeostasis. This activation process is highly diverse and depends on the context and type of the stressor or pathology. Microglia can strongly influence the pathologic outcome or response to a stressor due to the release of a plethora of substances, including cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors. They are the professional phagocytes of the brain and help orchestrate the immunological response by interacting with infiltrating immune cells. We describe here the diversity of microglia phenotypes and their responses in health, aging, and disease. We also review the current literature about the impact of lifestyle on microglia responses and discuss treatment options that modulate microglial phenotypes.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Annual Review of Physiology, 2016 · DOI ↗
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Field: Neurology (Neuroscience)
NeurologyNeuroscience