Debris clearance by microglia: an essential link between degeneration and regeneration

Microglia are cells of myeloid origin that populate the CNS during early development and form the brain's innate immune cell type. They perform homoeostatic activity in the normal CNS, a function associated with high motility of their ramified processes and their constant phagocytic clearance of cell debris. This debris clearance role is amplified in CNS injury, where there is frank loss of tissue and recruitment of microglia to the injured area. Recent evidence suggests that this phagocytic clearance following injury is more than simply tidying up, but instead plays a fundamental role in facilitating the reorganization of neuronal circuits and triggering repair. Insufficient clearance by microglia, prevalent…

• NM
  National Multiple Sclerosis Society
• RF
  Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment
• WT
  Wellcome Trust
• EC
  European Commission

  Award: LSHM-CT-2005-018637
• DF
  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
• BF
  Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung