Jung Yeon-Joo, Chung Won-Suk
Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
Biomol Ther (Seoul). 2018 Jul 1;26(4):350-357. doi: 10.4062/biomolther.2017.133.
Glial cells are receiving much attention since they have been recognized as important regulators of many aspects of brain function and disease. Recent evidence has revealed that two different glial cells, astrocytes and microglia, control synapse elimination under normal and pathological conditions via phagocytosis. Astrocytes use the MEGF10 and MERTK phagocytic pathways, and microglia use the classical complement pathway to recognize and eliminate unwanted synapses. Notably, glial phagocytosis also contributes to the clearance of disease-specific protein aggregates, such as β-amyloid, huntingtin, and α-synuclein. Here we reivew recent findings showing that glial cells are active regulators in brain functions through phagocytosis and that changes in glial phagocytosis contribute to the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative diseases. A better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of glial phagocytosis in healthy and diseased brains will greatly improve our current approach in treating these diseases.
神经胶质细胞正受到广泛关注，因为它们已被公认为是脑功能和疾病诸多方面的重要调节因子。最近的证据表明，两种不同的神经胶质细胞，即星形胶质细胞和小胶质细胞，在正常和病理条件下通过吞噬作用控制突触消除。星形胶质细胞利用MEGF10和MERTK吞噬途径，而小胶质细胞利用经典补体途径来识别和消除不需要的突触。值得注意的是，神经胶质细胞吞噬作用也有助于清除疾病特异性蛋白质聚集体，如β-淀粉样蛋白、亨廷顿蛋白和α-突触核蛋白。在这里，我们回顾了最近的研究发现，这些发现表明神经胶质细胞通过吞噬作用是脑功能的活跃调节因子，并且神经胶质细胞吞噬作用的变化有助于各种神经退行性疾病的发病机制。更好地理解健康和患病大脑中神经胶质细胞吞噬作用的细胞和分子机制将极大地改进我们目前治疗这些疾病的方法。
