Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States.
Department of Neurology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Front Immunol. 2021 Feb 19;12:616301. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.616301. eCollection 2021.
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an autoantibody-triggered neuro-inflammatory disease which preferentially attacks the spinal cord and optic nerve. Its defining autoantibody is specific for the water channel protein, aquaporin-4 (AQP4), which primarily is localized at the end-feet of astrocytes. Histopathology studies of early NMO lesions demonstrated prominent activation of microglia, the resident immune sentinels of the central nervous system (CNS). Significant microglial reactivity is also observed in NMO animal models induced by introducing AQP4-IgG into the CNS. Here we review the potential roles for microglial activation in human NMO patients as well as different animal models of NMO. We will focus primarily on the molecular mechanisms underlying microglial function and microglia-astrocyte interaction in NMO pathogenesis. Understanding the role of microglia in NMO pathology may yield novel therapeutic approaches for this disease.
视神经脊髓炎（NMO）是一种自身抗体触发的神经炎症性疾病，主要攻击脊髓和视神经。其明确的自身抗体是针对水通道蛋白 aquaporin-4（AQP4）的，AQP4 主要位于星形胶质细胞的终足。早期 NMO 病变的组织病理学研究表明，小胶质细胞明显激活，小胶质细胞是中枢神经系统（CNS）的常驻免疫哨兵。在通过将 AQP4-IgG 引入 CNS 诱导的 NMO 动物模型中也观察到显著的小胶质细胞反应。在这里，我们回顾了小胶质细胞激活在人类 NMO 患者以及不同 NMO 动物模型中的潜在作用。我们将主要关注 NMO 发病机制中小胶质细胞功能和小胶质细胞-星形胶质细胞相互作用的分子机制。了解小胶质细胞在 NMO 病理学中的作用可能为这种疾病提供新的治疗方法。
