Microglial activation is a hallmark of all neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Here, a detailed characterization of the microglial cell population within the spinal cord of a mouse model of familial ALS was performed. Using flow cytometry, we detected three distinct microglial populations within the spinal cord of mice overexpressing mutant superoxide dismu...

Abstract Introduction We have reported that GBM utilize sex-steroids and reproduction-specific proteins to hijack the granting of immune-privilege male/partner-specific antigens/epitopes. extended upon this foundation examine other examples immunosuppressive tissue-mimicry mechanisms deploy. The generation prostaglandins D2, E2 F2 reproductive are used by tumors activate discrete immune-cell ty...

Microglial activation and oxidative stress are significant components of the pathology of Parkinson's disease (PD), but their exact contributions to disease pathogenesis are unclear. We have developed an in vitro model of nigral injury, in which lipopolysaccharide-induced microglial activation leads to injury of a dopaminergic cell line (MES 23.5 cells) and dopaminergic neurons in primary mesen...

Microglial cells, the resident immune cells of the spinal cord, become activated in response to peripheral nerve injury. Microglia activation contributes to the development of neuropathic pain. Here we employed microarray analysis of individually collected pools of 10 spinal microglia cells to identify changes of levels and cell-to-cell expression variance of microglial genes during their activ...

Evidence indicates that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suffer from an ongoing neuroinflammatory process in different regions of the brain involving microglial activation. When microglia remain activated for an extended period, the production of mediators is sustained longer than usual and this increase in mediators contributes to loss of synaptic connections and neuronal cell deat...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Phagocytosis depends on the formation of engulfment pseudopodia surrounding the target. We tested in microglia, monocyte-derived cells in the brain, whether a swelling-activated Cl(-)-current (I(Cl,swell)), required for global cell volume (CV) regulation, also contributes to local expansion and retraction of engulfment pseudopodia. METHODS We used scanning electron microscopy ...

Upon activation, brain microglial cells release proinflammatory mediators, such as nitric oxide (NO), which may play an important role in the central nervous system antibacterial, antiviral, and antitumor activities. However, excessive release of NO has been postulated to elicit immune-mediated neurodegenerative inflammatory processes and to cause brain injury. In the present study, the effect ...

The accumulation and activation of microglial cells at sites of amyloid prion deposits or plaques have been documented extensively. Here, we investigate the in vivo recruitment of microglial cells soon after intraocular injection of scrapie-infected cell homogenate (hgtsc+) using immunohistochemistry on retinal sections. A population of CD11b/CD45-positive microglia was specifically detected wi...

Abstract Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. MS three times more common in women, yet severe men. The mechanisms underlying these sex differences remain largely unknown. initiated by autoreactive T cells, but CNS-infiltrating myeloid cells are key effector driving pathology. role CNS-resident microglial less clear. We have previously sho...

The amygdala undergoes aberrant development in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We previously found that there are reduced neuron numbers in the adult postmortem amygdala from individuals with ASD compared to typically developing controls. The current study is a comprehensive stereological examination of four non-neuronal cell populations: microglia, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, and endothelial...