Methamphetamine intoxication causes long-lasting damage to dopamine nerve endings in the striatum. The mechanisms underlying this neurotoxicity are not known but oxidative stress has been implicated. Microglia are the major antigen-presenting cells in brain and when activated, they secrete an array of factors that cause neuronal damage. Surprisingly, very little work has been directed at the st...

AMA Luo Y, He Wang Xu Yang L. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell exosomes ameliorate spinal cord injury in rats by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway and regulating microglial polarization. Folia Neuropathologica. 2023. doi:10.5114/fn.2023.130455. APA Luo, Y., He, Wang, Xu, & Yang, (2023). https://doi.org/10.5114/fn.2023.130455 Chicago Yi, You-zhi Yong-fu Yu-xia Li Yang. "Adipose-derived polar...

As activated microglia (MG) is an early sign that often precedes and triggers neuronal death, inhibition of microglial activation and reduction of subsequent neurotoxicity may offer therapeutic benefit. The present study demonstrates that rat primary cultured MG expressed Kir6.1 and SUR2 subunits of K(ATP) channel, which was identical to that expressed in BV-2 microglial cell line. The classic ...

We have studied the initial innate immune response to focal necrotic injury on different sides of the mouse blood-brain barrier by two-photon intravital microscopy. Transgenic mice in which the promoter of the myeloid isoform of lysozyme drives GFP were used to track granulocytes and monocytes. Necrotic injury in the meninges, but not the brain parenchyma, recruited GFP+ cells within minutes th...

We evaluated the expression and function of the microglia-specific growth factor, Progranulin-a (Pgrn-a) during developmental neurogenesis in the embryonic retina of zebrafish. At 24 hpf pgrn-a is expressed throughout the forebrain, but by 48 hpf pgrn-a is exclusively expressed by microglia and/or microglial precursors within the brain and retina. Knockdown of Pgrn-a does not alter the onset of...

The presence of autoreactive T cells recognizing self myelin antigens is necessary for the development of central nervous system autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The present study was undertaken to investigate the role of myelin basic protein (MBP)-primed T cells in the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in microglial cells. MBP-primed T cells alone markedl...

Microglia are brain resident immune cells and their functions are implicated in both the normal and diseased brain. Microglia express a plethora of ion channels, including K channels, Na channels, TRP channels, Cl channels, and proton channels. These ion channels play critical roles in microglial proliferation, migration, and production/release of cytokines, chemokines, and neurotoxic or neurot...

Microglia-mediated neuroinflammation may play an important role in the initiation and progression of dopaminergic (DA) neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD), and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is essential for the activation of microglia in the adult brain. However, it is still unclear whether patients with PD exhibit an increase in TLR4 expression in the brain, and whether there is a corr...

Damage to the leech or mammalian CNS increases nitric oxide (NO) production and causes accumulation of phagocytic microglial cells at the injury site. The aim of this study was to determine whether NO plays a role in microglial migration and accumulation at lesions in which NO is generated by a rapidly appearing endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in leeches. Immunohistochemistry and cytoc...

Microglia, the primary resident immune cell population in the CNS, react to signals of injury or infection and produce inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and reactive oxygen species, many of which can be neurotoxic in large quantities. Indeed microglial hyperactivation is thought to contribute to the pathology of many neurodegenerative disorders as well as ischemic and traumatic brain injuries...