Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Brain and Mind Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Front Immunol. 2022 Oct 19;13:997786. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.997786. eCollection 2022.
Microglia are mononuclear phagocytes of mesodermal origin that migrate to the central nervous system (CNS) during the early stages of embryonic development. After colonizing the CNS, they proliferate and remain able to self-renew throughout life, maintaining the number of microglia around 5-12% of the cells in the CNS parenchyma. They are considered to play key roles in development, homeostasis and innate immunity of the CNS. Microglia are exceptionally diverse in their morphological characteristics, actively modifying the shape of their processes and soma in response to different stimuli. This broad morphological spectrum of microglia responses is considered to be closely correlated to their diverse range of functions in health and disease. However, the morphophysiological attributes of microglia, and the structural and functional features of microglia-neuron interactions, remain largely unknown. Here, we assess the current knowledge of the diverse microglial morphologies, with a focus on the correlation between microglial shape and function. We also outline some of the current challenges, opportunities, and future directions that will help us to tackle unanswered questions about microglia, and to continue unravelling the mysteries of microglia, in all its shapes.
小胶质细胞是中胚层来源的单核吞噬细胞,在胚胎发育的早期迁移到中枢神经系统 (CNS)。在定殖中枢神经系统后,它们增殖并在整个生命周期中保持自我更新能力,使小胶质细胞的数量保持在中枢神经系统实质细胞的 5-12%左右。它们被认为在中枢神经系统的发育、稳态和先天免疫中发挥关键作用。小胶质细胞在形态特征上非常多样化,它们的突起和胞体的形状会根据不同的刺激而主动改变。小胶质细胞这种广泛的形态反应谱被认为与它们在健康和疾病中的多种功能密切相关。然而,小胶质细胞的形态生理学特性以及小胶质细胞-神经元相互作用的结构和功能特征在很大程度上仍然未知。在这里,我们评估了目前对不同小胶质细胞形态的认识,重点关注小胶质细胞形状与功能之间的相关性。我们还概述了一些当前的挑战、机遇和未来方向,这将有助于我们解决关于小胶质细胞的未回答的问题,并继续揭开小胶质细胞的神秘面纱,包括其所有形态。
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