Clearing the corpses：regulatory mechanisms, novel tools, and therapeutic potential of harnessing microglial phagocytosis in the diseased brain
Irune Diaz-Aparicio
Sol Beccari
Oihane Abiega
Amanda Sierra
摘要：Apoptosis is a widespread phenomenon that occurs in the brain in both physiological and pathological conditions. Dead cells must be quickly removed to avoid the further toxic effects they exert in the pa-renchyma, a process executed by microglia, the brain professional phagocytes. Although phagocytosis is critical to maintain tissue homeostasis, it has long been either overlooked or indirectly assessed based on microglial morphology, expression of classical activation markers, or engulfment of artiifcial phagocytic targetsin vitro. Nevertheless, these indirect methods present several limitations and, thus, direct obser-vation and quantiifcation of microglial phagocytosis is still necessary to fully grasp its relevance in the diseased brain. To overcome these caveats and obtain a comprehensive, quantitative picture of microglial phagocytosis we have developed a novel set of parameters. hTese parameters have allowed us to identify the different strategies utilized by microglia to cope with apoptotic challenges induced by excitotoxicity or inlfammation. In contrast, we discovered that in mouse and human epilepsy microglia failed to ifnd and engulf apoptotic cells, resulting in accumulation of debris and inlfammation. Herein, we advocate that the effciency of microglial phagocytosis should be routinely tested in neurodegenerative and neuro-logical disorders, in order to determine the extent to which it contributes to apoptosis and inlfammation found in these conditions. Finally, our ifndings point towards enhancing microglial phagocytosis as a novel therapeutic strategy to control tissue damage and inlfammation, and accelerate recovery in brain diseases.
机标关键词：activation markerscope with
资助基金：grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness with FEDER funds to AS (BFU2015-66689)grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness with FEDER funds to AS ( RYC-2013-12817)
论文发表日期：2016-01-01
在线出版日期：2025-08-15（本平台首次上网日期，不代表文献的发表时间）
页数：7( 1533-1539 )
英文信息