Fischer Maximilian, Kukley Maria
Institut de Neurociències and Departamento Bioquímica i Biología Molecular, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
Achucarro Basque Centre for Neuroscience, Leioa, Spain.
Neuroscientist. 2024 Oct 4:10738584241282969. doi: 10.1177/10738584241282969.
The mammalian brain comprises two structurally and functionally distinct compartments: the gray matter (GM) and the white matter (WM). In humans, the WM constitutes approximately half of the brain volume, yet it remains significantly less investigated than the GM. The major cellular elements of the WM are neuronal axons and glial cells. However, the WM also contains cell bodies of the interstitial neurons, estimated to number 10 to 28 million in the adult bat brain, 67 million in Lar gibbon brain, and 450 to 670 million in the adult human brain, representing as much as 1.3%, 2.25%, and 3.5% of all neurons in the cerebral cortex, respectively. Many studies investigated the interstitial WM neurons (IWMNs) using immunohistochemistry, and some information is available regarding their electrophysiological properties. However, the functional role of IWMNs in physiologic and pathologic conditions largely remains unknown. This review aims to provide a concise update regarding the distribution and properties of interstitial WM neurons, highlight possible functions of these cells as debated in the literature, and speculate about other possible functions of the IWMNs and their interactions with glial cells. We hope that our review will inspire new research on IWMNs, which represent an intriguing cell population in the brain.
灰质（GM）和白质（WM）。在人类中，白质约占大脑体积的一半，但与灰质相比，对其研究仍明显较少。白质的主要细胞成分是神经元轴突和神经胶质细胞。然而，白质中也含有间质神经元的细胞体，据估计，成年蝙蝠大脑中间质神经元的数量为1000万至2800万个，白眉长臂猿大脑中为6700万个，成年人类大脑中为4.5亿至6.7亿个，分别占大脑皮层所有神经元的1.3%、2.25%和3.5%。许多研究使用免疫组织化学方法研究了间质白质神经元（IWMNs），并且已经获得了一些关于它们电生理特性的信息。然而，IWMNs在生理和病理条件下的功能作用在很大程度上仍然未知。这篇综述旨在简要介绍间质白质神经元的分布和特性，强调文献中讨论的这些细胞的可能功能，并推测IWMNs的其他可能功能及其与神经胶质细胞的相互作用。我们希望我们的综述能够激发对IWMNs的新研究，IWMNs是大脑中一个有趣的细胞群体。
