As you learn this sentence, a military of cells patrols your mind. These troopers slip round neurons, utilizing their gangly appendages to seek for threats. If considered one of them detects a pathogen or harm, it springs into motion. Swelling up and descending in a voracious assault, it releases chemical compounds that sign for its comrades to affix the struggle.
Often called microglia, these specialised immune cells are our brains’ premier defenders. They shield us from invaders, clear away particles and keep connections between neurons to make sure the mind stays in peak situation.
But, regardless of their vigilance, microglia can generally have interaction in pleasant fireplace, with a rising physique of proof suggesting they often is the engineers behind a few of the mind’s most intractable circumstances, equivalent to Alzheimer’s illness and melancholy. If that’s the case, focusing on our wayward defenders – and even changing them with rejuvenated troops – could result in thrilling new therapies.
Microglia had been found in 1919 by neuroscientist Pío del Río Hortega. Whereas experimenting with novel methods of staining mind tissue, he stumbled throughout these new cells and named them after the traditional Greek phrases for “small” and “glue”.
This turned out to be an ill-fitting description. Aside from their splotchy look, microglia have few glue-like qualities. As an alternative, they’re a few of the most dynamic cells within the physique, roaming the mind with spindly, tentacle-like projections that increase and retract in response to adjustments of their surroundings.
How microglia perform
Microglia are a type of macrophage, a sort of immune cell whose roles…
