Inhibitors of Microglial Neurotoxicity: Focus on Natural Products

Molecules

Dong Kug Choi¹  Sushruta Koppula¹ 

[1] ¹Department of Biotechnology, Konkuk University, Chungju 380-701, Korea ²Department of Pharmacology, Brain Science and Engineering Institute, CMRI, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu 700-422, Korea

关键词: microglia;    neuroinflammation;    neurodegeneration;    natural products;    neuroprotection;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules16021021

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Microglial cells play a dual role in the central nervous system as they have both neurotoxic and neuroprotective effects. Uncontrolled and excessive activation of microglia often contributes to inflammation-mediated neurodegeneration. Recently, much attention has been paid to therapeutic strategies aimed at inhibiting neurotoxic microglial activation. Pharmacological inhibitors of microglial activation are emerging as a result of such endeavors. In this review, natural products-based inhibitors of microglial activation will be reviewed. Potential neuroprotective activity of these compounds will also be discussed. Future works should focus on the discovery of novel drug targets that specifically mediate microglial neurotoxicity rather than neuroprotection. Development of new drugs based on these targets may require a better understanding of microglial biology and neuroinflammation at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.