Strategies for Manipulating Microglia to Determine Their Role in the Healthy and Diseased Brain

Abstract

Microglia are the specialized macrophages of the central nervous system and play an important role in neural circuit development, modulating neurotransmission, and maintaining brain homeostasis. Microglia in normal brain is quiescent and show ramified morphology with numerous branching processes. They constantly survey their surrounding microenvironment through the extension and retraction of their processes and interact with neurons, astrocytes, and blood vessels using these processes. Microglia respond quickly to any pathological event in the brain by assuming ameboid morphology devoid of branching processes and restore homeostasis. However, when there is chronic inflammation, microglia may lose their homeostatic functions and secrete various proinflammatory cytokines and mediators that initiate neural dysfunction and neurodegeneration. In this article, we review the role of microglia in the normal brain and in various pathological brain conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis. We describe strategies to manipulate microglia, focusing on depletion, repopulation, and replacement, and we discuss their therapeutic potential.

The mechanism of microglia-mediated immune inflammation in ischemic stroke and the role of natural botanical components in regulating microglia: A review

“…In two-photon microscopy-based time-lapse imaging recordings, it was found that microglia directly contact astrocytes by extending their branches toward the astrocytes ( 161 ). When the brain microenvironment is disrupted, microglia/macrophages and astrocytes play important roles in various pathological states such as IS ( 162 – 164 ). Among them, modulators such as IL-1β, TNF-α, TGF-β, adenosine, ATP and glutamate contribute to functional communication between microglia/macrophages and astrocytes ( 165 – 168 ), which is critical for immune responses in the brain ( 163 ).…”

Recent Computational Methods for Pathological Brain Detection

“…A pathological brain [14][15][16] refers to a brain that exhibits abnormal structural or functional changes often associated with various neurological, neurodegenerative, or psychiatric disorders [17]. These alterations can result from a wide range of conditions, including tumors [18], infections [19], traumatic injuries [20], neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's [21] or Parkinson's [22], and mental health disorders like depression [23] or schizophrenia [24].…”