UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK.
Curr Eye Res. 2020 Mar;45(3):339-348. doi: 10.1080/02713683.2019.1648831. Epub 2019 Aug 5.
Müller glia constitute the main glial cells of the retina. They are spatially distributed along this tissue, facilitating their close membrane interactions with all retinal neurons. Müller glia are characterized by their active metabolic functions, which are neuroprotective in nature. Although they can become reactive under pathological conditions, leading to their production of inflammatory and neurotoxic factors, their main metabolic functions confer neuroprotection to the retina, resulting in the promotion of neural cell repair and survival. In addition to their protective metabolic features, Müller glia release several neurotrophic factors and antioxidants into the retinal microenvironment, which are taken up by retinal neurons for their survival. This review summarizes the Müller glial neuroprotective mechanisms and describes advances made on the clinical application of these factors for the treatment of retinal degenerative diseases. It also discusses prospects for the use of these cells as a vehicle to deliver neuroprotective factors into the retina.
Müller 胶质细胞是视网膜的主要胶质细胞。它们在这个组织中沿特定空间分布，促进它们与所有视网膜神经元的紧密膜相互作用。Müller 胶质细胞的特点是具有活跃的代谢功能，具有神经保护作用。尽管它们在病理条件下可能会变得活跃，导致产生炎症和神经毒性因子，但它们的主要代谢功能为视网膜提供神经保护，促进神经细胞的修复和存活。除了具有保护代谢的特点外，Müller 胶质细胞还向视网膜微环境释放几种神经营养因子和抗氧化剂，以供视网膜神经元摄取以维持其存活。这篇综述总结了 Müller 胶质细胞的神经保护机制，并描述了这些因子在治疗视网膜退行性疾病的临床应用方面的进展。它还讨论了将这些细胞用作将神经保护因子递送到视网膜的载体的前景。
