Institute of Environmental Medicine, Toxicology Unit, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universidad de Sevilla, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla-Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.
Prog Neurobiol. 2018 Dec;171:50-71. doi: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2018.09.007. Epub 2018 Oct 2.
Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, can acquire various cell phenotypes based on their location and current role. This level of plasticity is required to fulfil the vast variety of functions that microglia perform. Adequate microglial functions are crucial for a healthy brain. However, microglial activation can also contribute to both degenerative/traumatic and proliferative diseases. We review current evidence supporting roles for caspases, a family of proteases, in the overall control of microglia, from the regulation of their activation, their biological functions, to their death. Further, we discuss possible roles for these microglial caspase-dependent signaling pathways in brain diseases.
小胶质细胞是大脑的固有免疫细胞，可以根据其位置和当前角色获得各种细胞表型。这种可塑性是实现小胶质细胞执行的各种功能所必需的。适当的小胶质细胞功能对大脑的健康至关重要。然而，小胶质细胞的激活也可能导致退行性/创伤性和增殖性疾病。我们综述了目前支持半胱天冬酶（蛋白酶家族）在小胶质细胞的整体调控中发挥作用的证据，包括它们的激活调控、生物学功能及其死亡。此外，我们还讨论了这些小胶质细胞半胱天冬酶依赖性信号通路在脑疾病中的可能作用。
