Harvard University : Think of them as utility players.
ENPNewswire-August 12, 2022--Harvard University : Think of them as utility players
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Release date- 11082022 - To accomplish feats of athletic or academic excellence and even everyday actions like walking and talking, the brain must acquire and seamlessly process a ton of information. That requires a whole orchestra of cells to 'listen' and move, interact, and coordinate with one another. One of the most enduring, fundamental questions in neuroscience involves precisely how this happens.
Scientists know that this cellular symphony includes not only neurons, but cells that normally play a role in defending the body against pathogens. One group is tiny immune cells called microglia, which researchers are increasingly learning play oversized roles in brain function, health, and disease. The cells are also gaining increased attention for their roles in assembling and maintaining neural circuits and their ability to change their molecular identity to match their environment. A key to solving one of neuroscience's great mysteries involves finding out how they make this change.
In a new report in Nature, researchers from the lab of Paola Arlotta, Golub Family Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology and the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute, move a step closer to answering this question. The paper, published Wednesday, shows that microglia cells 'listen in' to neighboring neurons and change their molecular state to match them.
'When they were first discovered, microglia were assumed to be simply scavengers, cleaning up cell debris and helping to fight off pathogens,' said Jeffrey Stogsdill, who led the study as a postdoctoral researcher in the Arlotta lab. 'Now we know that microglia can interact with neurons in very sophisticated ways that can affect neuron function.'
This discovery could one day open the door for lines of research that can target communications between microglia and their neuron partners with pinpoint accuracy, offering insight into disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, which arise when these communications between cells go awry.
'You would no longer have to treat, for instance, microglia as one blanket cell type when trying to affect the brain,' Stogsdill continues. 'We can target very specific states, or we can target very specific subtypes of neurons with the ability to change specific states of microglia. It allows us to have...
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