Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (Neuropathology), David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Histol Histopathol. 2011 Apr;26(4):519-30. doi: 10.14670/HH-26.519.
Microglia are essential cellular components of a well-functioning central nervous system (CNS). The development and establishment of the microglial population differs from the other major cell populations in the CNS i.e. neurons and macroglia (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes). This different ontogeny gives microglia unique properties. In recent years detailed studies of the microglial population have been greatly facilitated by the use of bone marrow (BM) chimeric animals. Experimental BM transplants have provided the opportunity to trace and investigate how BM cells migrate into the CNS and settle to become microglia. Furthermore various functional properties of microglia in the normal and pathological CNS are now being revealed because of combinations of BM transplantations and experimental disease models. Here, we describe some of the latest findings in microglial biology and discuss the potential for using microglia in therapeutic interventions.
小胶质细胞是中枢神经系统（CNS）正常运作的重要细胞成分。小胶质细胞的发育和建立不同于 CNS 中的其他主要细胞群体，即神经元和大胶质细胞（星形胶质细胞和少突胶质细胞）。这种不同的胚胎发生赋予了小胶质细胞独特的特性。近年来，骨髓（BM）嵌合动物的使用极大地促进了对小胶质细胞群体的详细研究。实验性 BM 移植提供了追踪和研究 BM 细胞如何迁移到 CNS 并定居成为小胶质细胞的机会。此外，由于 BM 移植和实验性疾病模型的结合，现在正在揭示正常和病理性 CNS 中小胶质细胞的各种功能特性。在这里，我们描述了小胶质细胞生物学的一些最新发现，并讨论了将小胶质细胞用于治疗干预的潜力。
