Microglial Turnover in Ageing-Related Neurodegeneration: Therapeutic Avenue to Intervene in Disease Progression
Microglia are brain-dwelling macrophages and major parts of the neuroimmune system that broadly contribute to brain development, homeostasis, ageing and injury repair in the central nervous system (CNS). Apart from other brain macrophages, they have the ability to constantly sense changes in the bra...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Cells |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/10/1/150 |
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| author | Shofiul Azam Md. Ezazul Haque In-Su Kim Dong-Kug Choi |
| author_facet | Shofiul Azam Md. Ezazul Haque In-Su Kim Dong-Kug Choi |
| author_sort | Shofiul Azam |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Microglia are brain-dwelling macrophages and major parts of the neuroimmune system that broadly contribute to brain development, homeostasis, ageing and injury repair in the central nervous system (CNS). Apart from other brain macrophages, they have the ability to constantly sense changes in the brain’s microenvironment, functioning as housekeepers for neuronal well-being and providing neuroprotection in normal physiology. Microglia use a set of genes for these functions that involve proinflammatory cytokines. In response to specific stimuli, they release these proinflammatory cytokines, which can damage and kill neurons via neuroinflammation. However, alterations in microglial functioning are a common pathophysiology in age-related neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and prion diseases, as well as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. When their sentinel or housekeeping functions are severely disrupted, they aggravate neuropathological conditions by overstimulating their defensive function and through neuroinflammation. Several pathways are involved in microglial functioning, including the <i>Trem2</i>, <i>Cx3cr1</i> and progranulin pathways, which keep the microglial inflammatory response under control and promote clearance of injurious stimuli. Over time, an imbalance in this system leads to protective microglia becoming detrimental, initiating or exacerbating neurodegeneration. Correcting such imbalances might be a potential mode of therapeutic intervention in neurodegenerative diseases. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:53:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-da3f42011e764cf787e39a0b9781f737 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4409 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:53:28Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cells |
| spelling | doaj.art-da3f42011e764cf787e39a0b9781f7372023-12-03T13:08:49ZengMDPI AGCells2073-44092021-01-0110115010.3390/cells10010150Microglial Turnover in Ageing-Related Neurodegeneration: Therapeutic Avenue to Intervene in Disease ProgressionShofiul Azam0Md. Ezazul Haque1In-Su Kim2Dong-Kug Choi3Department of Applied Life Science & Integrated Bioscience, Graduate School, BK21 Program, Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, KoreaDepartment of Applied Life Science & Integrated Bioscience, Graduate School, BK21 Program, Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, KoreaDepartment of Integrated Bioscience & Biotechnology, College of Biomedical and Health Science, Research Institute of Inflammatory Disease (RID), Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, KoreaDepartment of Applied Life Science & Integrated Bioscience, Graduate School, BK21 Program, Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, KoreaMicroglia are brain-dwelling macrophages and major parts of the neuroimmune system that broadly contribute to brain development, homeostasis, ageing and injury repair in the central nervous system (CNS). Apart from other brain macrophages, they have the ability to constantly sense changes in the brain’s microenvironment, functioning as housekeepers for neuronal well-being and providing neuroprotection in normal physiology. Microglia use a set of genes for these functions that involve proinflammatory cytokines. In response to specific stimuli, they release these proinflammatory cytokines, which can damage and kill neurons via neuroinflammation. However, alterations in microglial functioning are a common pathophysiology in age-related neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and prion diseases, as well as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. When their sentinel or housekeeping functions are severely disrupted, they aggravate neuropathological conditions by overstimulating their defensive function and through neuroinflammation. Several pathways are involved in microglial functioning, including the <i>Trem2</i>, <i>Cx3cr1</i> and progranulin pathways, which keep the microglial inflammatory response under control and promote clearance of injurious stimuli. Over time, an imbalance in this system leads to protective microglia becoming detrimental, initiating or exacerbating neurodegeneration. Correcting such imbalances might be a potential mode of therapeutic intervention in neurodegenerative diseases.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/10/1/150microglianeurodegenerationneuroinflammationmacrophageshomeostasis |
| spellingShingle | Shofiul Azam Md. Ezazul Haque In-Su Kim Dong-Kug Choi Microglial Turnover in Ageing-Related Neurodegeneration: Therapeutic Avenue to Intervene in Disease Progression Cells microglia neurodegeneration neuroinflammation macrophages homeostasis |
| title | Microglial Turnover in Ageing-Related Neurodegeneration: Therapeutic Avenue to Intervene in Disease Progression |
| title_full | Microglial Turnover in Ageing-Related Neurodegeneration: Therapeutic Avenue to Intervene in Disease Progression |
| title_fullStr | Microglial Turnover in Ageing-Related Neurodegeneration: Therapeutic Avenue to Intervene in Disease Progression |
| title_full_unstemmed | Microglial Turnover in Ageing-Related Neurodegeneration: Therapeutic Avenue to Intervene in Disease Progression |
| title_short | Microglial Turnover in Ageing-Related Neurodegeneration: Therapeutic Avenue to Intervene in Disease Progression |
| title_sort | microglial turnover in ageing related neurodegeneration therapeutic avenue to intervene in disease progression |
| topic | microglia neurodegeneration neuroinflammation macrophages homeostasis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/10/1/150 |
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