Molecular Neurobiology Program, Skirball Institute, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, 540 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2010 Oct;20(5):595-600. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2010.07.002. Epub 2010 Aug 10.
Microglial cells constitute the resident immune cell population of the mammalian central nervous system. One striking feature of these cells is their highly dynamic nature under both normal and pathological brain conditions. The highly branched processes of resting microglia display a constitutive mobility and undergo rapid directional movement towards sites of acute tissue disruption. Microglia can be converted by a large number of different stimuli to a chronically activated state by signaling through both purinergic and Toll-like receptor systems, among others. Recent work has uncovered some of the mechanisms underlying microglia dynamics and shed new light into the functional significance of this enigmatic member of the glial cell family.
小胶质细胞构成了哺乳动物中枢神经系统中常驻的免疫细胞群体。这些细胞的一个显著特征是，它们在正常和病理脑状态下具有高度动态的性质。静止小胶质细胞的高度分支过程显示出固有流动性，并迅速向急性组织破坏部位发生定向运动。通过嘌呤能和 Toll 样受体系统等信号通路，大量不同的刺激可以将小胶质细胞转化为慢性激活状态。最近的工作揭示了小胶质细胞动力学的一些机制，并为这个神经胶质细胞家族中神秘成员的功能意义提供了新的线索。
