Glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity and neurodegeneration have been shown as pathophysiological hallmarks of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune inflammatory CNS disorders. N‑Methyl‑D‑Aspartate (NMDA) receptors play a pivotal role in the mediation of neuronal glutamate excitotoxicity leading to cellular damage and apoptotic cell death. Current treatment approaches targeting glutamate exc...

Microglia are intrinsic immune cells in the central nervous system (CNS). The under controlled microglia activation plays important roles in inflammatory demyelination diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the means to modulate microglia activation as a therapeutic modality and the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here we show that administration of 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid (G...

Microglia are critical for developmental pruning and immune response to injury, and are implicated in facilitating neural plasticity. The rodent gustatory system is highly plastic, particularly during development, and outcomes following nerve injury are more severe in developing animals. The mechanisms underlying developmental plasticity in the taste system are largely unknown, making microglia...

Radiation therapy (RT) is pivotal in the treatment of many central nervous system (CNS) pathologies; however, exposure to RT in children is associated with a higher risk of secondary CNS tumors. Although recent research interest has focused on the reparative and therapeutic role of microglia, their recruitment following RT has not been elucidated, especially in the developing CNS. Here, we inve...

Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common and deadliest form of brain cancer. Glioblastomas are infiltrated by a high number of microglia, which promote tumor growth and surrounding tissue invasion. However, it is unclear how microglia and glioma cells physically interact and if there are differences, depending on glioma cell type. Hence, we have developed a novel live imaging assay to study m...

may have different origins, i.e. those arising from the primitive macrophages from the yolk sac and those newly differentiated from monocytes or their progenitors. Over 95% of all microglia are generated after birth and after the formation of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and there has been an ongoing debate regarding the maintenance of the microglial population in the adult CNS. One hypothesis...

PURPOSE The role of microglia, present in the retina early in development before vascularization, remains ill defined. The authors investigated whether microglia are implicated in retinal blood vessel formation. METHODS The microglia and vasculature of developing human fetal and rodent retinas were examined by labeling the endothelial cells with lectin and the microglia with CD18 antibody or ...

The specific function of microglia, the tissue resident macrophages of the brain and spinal cord, has been difficult to ascertain because of a lack of tools to distinguish microglia from other immune cells, thereby limiting specific immunostaining, purification, and manipulation. Because of their unique developmental origins and predicted functions, the distinction of microglia from other myelo...

Microglia are the resident phagocytic cells with various functions in the central nervous system, and the morphologies of microglia imply the different stages and functions. In optical nerve transection (ONT) model in the retina, the retrograde degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) induces microglial activations to a unique morphology termed "rod" microglia. A few studies described the ...

Microglia are generally considered the resident immune cells in the central nervous system (CNS) that regulate the primary events of neuroinflammatory responses. Microglia also play key roles in repair and neurodegeneration of the CNS after injury. Recent studies showed that trains of bipolar/rod-shaped microglia align end-to-end along the CNS injury site during the initial recovery phase. Howe...