Glial Cells in Health and Disease

Glial cells – traditionally thought as simply the “glue” of the nervous system – are increasingly recognized to play a critical role in the development and function of the brain. Importantly, glial cell dysfunction has recently been shown to contribute to various neurological disorders, such as autism, schizophrenia, pain, and neurodegeneration. Understanding the function of glial cells under normal, physiological conditions, as well as how it goes awry in disease, has the potential to revolutionize how we think about the function and dysfunction of the nervous system, and inspire the development of new therapies to treat these devastating disorders.

In this Collection, we highlight the best research articles, reviews, and commentaries in the area of glial biology, published in the Nature Research journals, including Nature, Nature Communications, Nature Medicine, Nature Neuroscience, Nature Immunology, Nature Methods, Nature Reviews Immunology, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, and Nature Reviews Neurology, during 2016 and 2017. Findings in these papers will not only be valuable to the basic science community, but would also lay the groundwork for future translational research that aims to restore glial function and treat disorders of the nervous system.