Applied Immunology and Immunotherapy, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, CMM L8:04, Karolinska Sjukhuset, S-171 76, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Neurosurgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.
J Neuroinflammation. 2021 Mar 17;18(1):74. doi: 10.1186/s12974-021-02124-z.
There are inherent structural and functional differences in the central nervous systems (CNS) of females and males. It has been gradually established that these sex-specific differences are due to a spectrum of genetic, epigenetic, and hormonal factors which actively contribute to the differential incidences, disease courses, and even outcomes of CNS diseases between sexes. Microglia, as principle resident macrophages in the CNS, play a crucial role in both CNS physiology and pathology. However, sex differences of microglia have been relatively unexplored until recently. Emerging data has convincingly demonstrated the existence of sex-dependent structural and functional differences of rodent microglia, consequently changing our current understanding of these versatile cells. In this review, we attempt to comprehensively outline the current advances revealing microglial sex differences in rodent and their potential implications for specific CNS diseases with a stark sex difference. A detailed understanding of molecular processes underlying microglial sex differences is of major importance in design of translational sex- and microglia-specific therapeutic approaches.
女性和男性的中枢神经系统（CNS）存在固有结构和功能差异。逐渐确立的是，这些性别特异性差异是由于一系列遗传、表观遗传和激素因素造成的，这些因素积极促成了 CNS 疾病在两性中的不同发病率、病程甚至结局。小胶质细胞作为 CNS 中的主要常驻巨噬细胞，在 CNS 生理学和病理学中发挥着至关重要的作用。然而，直到最近，小胶质细胞的性别差异才得到相对深入的研究。新出现的数据令人信服地证明了啮齿动物小胶质细胞存在依赖于性别的结构和功能差异，从而改变了我们目前对这些多功能细胞的理解。在这篇综述中，我们试图全面概述目前揭示啮齿动物小胶质细胞性别差异的研究进展，以及它们对具有明显性别差异的特定 CNS 疾病的潜在影响。深入了解小胶质细胞性别差异背后的分子过程对于设计针对性别和小胶质细胞的转化治疗方法具有重要意义。
