Microglial Function in the Central Nervous System II

Dear Colleagues,

Since the first description by the Spanish neuroscientist Pio del Rio-Hortega more than one hundred years ago, our understanding of microglia has continued to advance. As the resident immune cells in the central nervous system, microglia play a pivotal role in the maintenance of its homeostasis and the defense against invading pathogens and foreign substances. Aberrant activation of microglia has been associated with the pathogenesis of a wide variety of neurological disorders including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Research in the last few decades has rapidly advanced our understanding of microglia from the recognition of being either “pro-” or “anti-inflammatory” when activated, to the realization that microglia are highly dynamic cells that exhibit a wide and progressive spectrum of phenotypes under both physiological and pathological conditions. Distinct phenotypes may underlie their involvement in the normal development and maintenance of the central nervous system as well as the pathogenesis of various neurological disorders. Moreover, microglia exhibit both spatial phenotypic characteristics within different regions of the central nervous system and temporal phenotypic transformation in response to changes in their microenvironment, the presence of abnormal substances and during the pathogenesis of neurological disorders, as well as sex dimorphism. This Special Issue welcomes research work on the characterization of microglial phenotypic transformation in various model systems to help gain a more complete understanding of their highly dynamic and multifaceted role in both health and disease.

Dr. Bin Liu
Guest Editor

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