Curriculum in Neurobiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Int Rev Cell Mol Biol. 2010;283:93-128. doi: 10.1016/S1937-6448(10)83003-5.
Glial cells are critical players in every major aspect of nervous system development, function, and disease. Other than their traditional supportive role, glial cells perform a variety of important functions such as myelination, synapse formation and plasticity, and establishment of blood-brain and blood-nerve barriers in the nervous system. Recent studies highlight the striking functional similarities between Drosophila and vertebrate glia. In both systems, glial cells play an essential role in neural ensheathment thereby isolating the nervous system and help to create a local ionic microenvironment for conduction of nerve impulses. Here, we review the anatomical aspects and the molecular players that underlie ensheathment during different stages of nervous system development in Drosophila and how these processes lead to the organization of neuroglial junctions. We also discuss some key aspects of the invertebrate axonal ensheathment and junctional organization with that of vertebrate myelination and axon-glial interactions. Finally, we highlight the importance of intercellular junctions in barrier formation in various cellular contexts in Drosophila. We speculate that unraveling the genetic and molecular mechanisms of ensheathment across species might provide key insights into human myelin-related disorders and help in designing therapeutic interventions.
神经胶质细胞是神经系统发育、功能和疾病的各个主要方面的关键参与者。除了传统的支持作用外，神经胶质细胞还具有多种重要功能，如髓鞘形成、突触形成和可塑性，以及在神经系统中建立血脑和血神经屏障。最近的研究强调了果蝇和脊椎动物神经胶质细胞之间惊人的功能相似性。在这两个系统中，神经胶质细胞在神经鞘的形成中起着至关重要的作用，从而隔离了神经系统，并有助于为神经冲动的传导创造局部离子微环境。在这里，我们回顾了在果蝇神经系统发育的不同阶段，神经鞘形成的解剖学方面和分子基础，以及这些过程如何导致神经胶质连接的组织。我们还讨论了无脊椎动物轴突鞘的一些关键方面，以及与脊椎动物髓鞘形成和轴突-胶质相互作用的连接组织。最后，我们强调了细胞间连接在果蝇各种细胞环境中形成屏障的重要性。我们推测，揭示跨物种的鞘形成的遗传和分子机制可能为人类与髓鞘相关的疾病提供关键的见解，并有助于设计治疗干预措施。
