Noteworthy perspectives on microglia in neuropsychiatric disorders

Abstract

Microglia are so versatile that they not only provide immune surveillance for central nervous system, but participate in neural circuitry development, brain blood vessels formation, blood–brain barrier architecture, and intriguingly, the regulation of emotions and behaviors. Microglia have a profound impact on neuronal survival, brain wiring and synaptic plasticity. As professional phagocytic cells in the brain, they remove dead cell debris and neurotoxic agents via an elaborate mechanism. The functional profile of microglia varies considerately depending on age, gender, disease context and other internal or external environmental factors. Numerous studies have demonstrated a pivotal involvement of microglia in neuropsychiatric disorders, including negative affection, social deficit, compulsive behavior, fear memory, pain and other symptoms associated with major depression disorder, anxiety disorder, autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. In this review, we summarized the latest discoveries regarding microglial ontogeny, cell subtypes or state spectrum, biological functions and mechanistic underpinnings of emotional and behavioral disorders. Furthermore, we highlight the potential of microglia-targeted therapies of neuropsychiatric disorders, and propose outstanding questions to be addressed in future research of human microglia.

Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in Glial Cells as Molecular Target for Parkinson’s Disease

“…These cells perform several pivotal functions such as energetic support for neurons [ 38 , 39 , 40 ], the formation of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) [ 41 , 42 ], the regulation of neurotransmitters [ 43 , 44 , 45 ], the development and remodeling of synapses [ 46 , 47 , 48 ], detoxification [ 49 , 50 , 51 ], the control of the fluid/electrolyte homeostasis [ 52 ], the control of metabolism [ 53 , 54 ], neuroendocrine function [ 55 ], innate immunity response [ 56 , 57 ], and myelination [ 58 , 59 ]. These functions confer on them a key role in maintaining homeostasis, the disruption of which can lead to neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases [ 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ].…”

Potential antidepressant effects of Traditional Chinese botanical drug formula Chaihu-Shugan-San and its active ingredients

“…Under normal physiological conditions, microglial cell bodies have elongated processes and continually monitor changes in the brain environment. However, in response to pathological stimuli, microglia are rapidly activated, their numbers increase, and their cell bodies enlarge while their processes become shorter ( Zhu et al, 2023 ). Under pathological conditions, microglia transition from a resting state to an activated state, adopting two polarization phenotypes, M1 and M2.…”

Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in Glial Cells as Molecular Target for Parkinson’s Disease

“…These cells perform several pivotal functions such as energetic support for neurons [38][39][40], formation of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) [41,42], regulation of neurotransmitters 3 [43][44][45], development and remodeling of synapses [46][47][48], detoxification [49][50][51], control of the fluid/electrolyte homeostasis [52] , control of metabolism [53,54], neuroendocrine function [55] innate immunity response [56,57], and myelination [58,59]. These functions confer on them key role in maintaining homeostasis, disruption of which can lead to neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases [59][60][61][62][63][64].…”