Miscellaneous

Who discovered microglia?

Who discovered microglia?

Pıo del Rıo- Hortega
Microglia were first described by the Spanish researcher Pıo del Rıo- Hortega in 1919. Rıo-Hortega’s discoveries identi- fied and defined the three types of glial cells of the CNS: astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and microglia.

What is the importance of microglia?

Microglia are specialized macrophages of the central nervous system involved in immune regulation, tissue development, homeostasis and wound repair.

How do Macrogages and microglia differ?

Macrophages are not the first line of defense. Microglia are the first line of defense in the CNS. Macrophages do not exhibit responses to fluctuations in calcium levels. Microglia exhibit calcium wave responses, and this is a hallmark of glial cell function in the CNS.

What is the origin of microglia?

Microglia are derived from primitive haematopoiesis in the fetal yolk sac and take up residence in the brain during early fetal development. Microglia differentiation and proliferation requires colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF1), the CSF1 receptor (CSF1R), CD34 and the transcription factor PU.

What would happen without microglia?

Microglia make up 10 percent of the brain’s cells, but they are not neurons and therefore have long been overlooked. The boy’s case makes their importance unmistakable. In the absence of microglia, the boy’s neurons still grew to fill his skull, but they ended up in the wrong places and made the wrong connections.

How do microglia cells work?

Microglia regulate brain development primarily through two routes: the release of diffusible factors and phagocytosis. Microglia phagocytize many products in the brain, including synaptic elements, living cells, dying or dead cells, and axons.

Do microglia produce antibodies?

Due to the lack of antibodies from the rest of the body (few antibodies are small enough to cross the blood–brain barrier), microglia must be able to recognize foreign bodies, swallow them, and act as antigen-presenting cells activating T-cells.

What do microglia do in the brain?

Microglia are key cells in overall brain maintenance—they are constantly scavenging the CNS for plaques, damaged or unnecessary neurons and synapses, and infectious agents.

What happens when microglial cells are damaged?

Microglial activation upon neuronal damage. When neurons are injured, microglia are rapidly activated as a result of both a weakening neuronal inhibitory signals and activating stimulatory signals. Loss of neuronal integrity results in breakdown of microglial inhibitory molecules such as CD200, soluble inhibitors.