Review abstract
Focus on Glia and Disease
- Focus issue:
- November 2007 Volume 10, No 11
Nature Neuroscience 10, 1387 - 1394 (2007)
Published online: 26 October 2007 | doi:10.1038/nn1997
Microglia: active sensor and versatile effector cells in the normal and pathologic brain
Uwe-Karsten Hanisch1 & Helmut Kettenmann2
Abstract
Microglial cells constitute the resident macrophage population of the CNS. Recent in vivo studies have shown that microglia carry out active tissue scanning, which challenges the traditional notion of 'resting' microglia in the normal brain. Transformation of microglia to reactive states in response to pathology has been known for decades as microglial activation, but seems to be more diverse and dynamic than ever anticipated—in both transcriptional and nontranscriptional features and functional consequences. This may help to explain why engagement of microglia can be either neuroprotective or neurotoxic, resulting in containment or aggravation of disease progression. Moreover, little is known about the heterogeneity of microglial responses in different pathologic contexts that results from regional adaptations or from the progression of a disease. In this review, we focus on several key observations that illustrate the multi-faceted activities of microglia in the normal and pathologic brain.
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Institute of Neuropathology, University of Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Stra
e 40, D-37075 Göttingen, Germany. -
Cellular Neuroscience, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Robert-Rössle-Strae 10, D-13092 Berlin, Germany.
Correspondence to: Helmut Kettenmann2 e-mail: kettenmann@mdc-berlin.de
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