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Journal ArticleDOI

Synaptic Pruning by Microglia Is Necessary for Normal Brain Development

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TLDR
It is shown that microglia actively engulf synaptic material and play a major role in synaptic pruning during postnatal development in mice and this work suggests that deficits in microglian function may contribute to synaptic abnormalities seen in some neurodevelopmental disorders.
Abstract
Microglia are highly motile phagocytic cells that infiltrate and take up residence in the developing brain, where they are thought to provide a surveillance and scavenging function. However, although microglia have been shown to engulf and clear damaged cellular debris after brain insult, it remains less clear what role microglia play in the uninjured brain. Here, we show that microglia actively engulf synaptic material and play a major role in synaptic pruning during postnatal development in mice. These findings link microglia surveillance to synaptic maturation and suggest that deficits in microglia function may contribute to synaptic abnormalities seen in some neurodevelopmental disorders.

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Macrophage biology in development, homeostasis and disease

TL;DR: This Review discusses how macrophage regulate normal physiology and development, and provides several examples of their pathophysiological roles in disease, and defines the ‘hallmarks’ of macrophages according to the states that they adopt during the performance of their various roles.
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Physiology of Microglia

TL;DR: Current studies indicate that even in the normal brain, microglia have highly motile processes by which they scan their territorial domains, and microglial cells are considered the most susceptible sensors of brain pathology.
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Microglia sculpt postnatal neural circuits in an activity and complement-dependent manner.

TL;DR: It is shown that microglia engulf presynaptic inputs during peak retinogeniculate pruning and that engulfment is dependent upon neural activity and themicroglia-specific phagocytic signaling pathway, complement receptor 3(CR3)/C3.
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Neuropathological Alterations in Alzheimer Disease

TL;DR: Postmortem studies have enabled the staging of the progression of both amyloid and tangle pathologies, and the development of diagnostic criteria that are now used worldwide, and these cross-sectional neuropathological data have been largely validated by longitudinal in vivo studies using modern imaging biomarkers such as amyloids PET and volumetric MRI.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Resting Microglial Cells Are Highly Dynamic Surveillants of Brain Parenchyma in Vivo

TL;DR: Using in vivo two-photon imaging in neocortex, it is found that microglial cells are highly active in their presumed resting state, continually surveying their microenvironment with extremely motile processes and protrusions.
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Fate Mapping Analysis Reveals That Adult Microglia Derive from Primitive Macrophages

TL;DR: Results identify microglia as an ontogenically distinct population in the mononuclear phagocyte system and have implications for the use of embryonically derived microglial progenitors for the treatment of various brain disorders.
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ATP mediates rapid microglial response to local brain injury in vivo

TL;DR: Extracellular ATP regulates microglial branch dynamics in the intact brain, and its release from the damaged tissue and surrounding astrocytes mediates a rapid microglia response towards injury.
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Microglia: active sensor and versatile effector cells in the normal and pathologic brain

TL;DR: This review focuses on several key observations that illustrate the multi-faceted activities of microglia in the normal and pathologic brain.
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The classical complement cascade mediates CNS synapse elimination.

TL;DR: It is shown that C1q, the initiating protein in the classical complement cascade, is expressed by postnatal neurons in response to immature astrocytes and is localized to synapses throughout the postnatal CNS and retina, supporting a model in which unwanted synapses are tagged by complement for elimination and suggesting that complement-mediated synapse elimination may become aberrantly reactivated in neurodegenerative disease.
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