Microglia, are specialized immune cells that function to protect the brain. Their continuous surveillance of this neurologic environment protects you from infectious microbes and trauma. However, researchers at Gladstone Institutes are discovering new functionality for microglia.
"This never made sense to me," says Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, a senior investigator at Gladstone Institutes. "Why would a cell expend so much energy for something that might never happen? I always thought there must be another reason for microglia to be moving all the time, likely related to a normal function in the brain."
Their study was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, she and her team demonstrate surveillance by microglia helps prevent seizure activity (or hyperexcitability) in the brain. These findings suggest new therapeutic strategies for several diseases, given that hyperexcitability is a feature of many neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, and autism.
"Network hyperexcitability can be observed in patients with epilepsy and in other conditions in which epilepsy is more likely to occur, such as Alzheimer's disease and autism," says Jorge Palop, PhD, a co-author of the study and associate investigator at Gladstone. "And, a hyperactive brain causes a large number of neurons to fire (or become active) at the same time--a process known as hypersynchrony that can lead to spontaneous seizures. Our study could offer a new way to intervene in diseases with hyperexcitability."