Singhvi Aakanksha, Shaham Shai, Rapti Georgia
Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, Washington 98109, USA
Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2024 Dec 2;16(12):a041346. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041346.
The nematode is a powerful experimental setting for uncovering fundamental tenets of nervous system organization and function. Its nearly invariant and simple anatomy, coupled with a plethora of methodologies for interrogating single-gene functions at single-cell resolution in vivo, have led to exciting discoveries in glial cell biology and mechanisms of glia-neuron interactions. Findings over the last two decades reinforce the idea that insights from can inform our understanding of glial operating principles in other species. Here, we summarize the current state-of-the-art, and describe mechanistic insights that have emerged from a concerted effort to understand glia. The remarkable acceleration in the pace of discovery in recent years paints a portrait of striking molecular complexity, exquisite specificity, and functional heterogeneity among glia. Glial cells affect nearly every aspect of nervous system development and function, from generating neurons, to promoting neurite formation, to animal behavior, and to whole-animal traits, including longevity. We discuss emerging questions where is poised to fill critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of glia biology.
线虫是揭示神经系统组织和功能基本原理的有力实验模型。其近乎不变且简单的解剖结构，再加上大量可在体内以单细胞分辨率研究单基因功能的方法，已在胶质细胞生物学以及胶质细胞与神经元相互作用机制方面带来了令人兴奋的发现。过去二十年的研究结果强化了这样一种观点，即来自线虫的见解能够增进我们对其他物种中胶质细胞运作原理的理解。在此，我们总结当前的前沿进展，并描述通过共同努力理解线虫胶质细胞而产生的机制性见解。近年来发现速度的显著加快描绘出一幅胶质细胞间分子复杂性惊人、特异性极高且功能具有异质性的图景。胶质细胞几乎影响神经系统发育和功能的方方面面，从神经元的产生、神经突的形成促进，到动物行为以及包括寿命在内的全动物特征。我们讨论了线虫有望填补我们在胶质细胞生物学理解方面关键知识空白的新出现问题。
