Uncovering sex differences of rodent microglia

Journal of Neuroinflammation

Jinming Han¹  Robert A. Harris¹  Yueshan Fan²  Kai Zhou³  Klas Blomgren⁴ 

[1] Applied Immunology and Immunotherapy, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, CMM L8:04, Karolinska Sjukhuset, S-171 76, Stockholm, Sweden;Applied Immunology and Immunotherapy, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, CMM L8:04, Karolinska Sjukhuset, S-171 76, Stockholm, Sweden;Department of Neurosurgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China;Key Laboratory of Injuries, Variations and Regeneration of Nervous System, Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin, China;Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China;Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden;Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Zhengzhou, Zhengzhou, China;Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden;Pediatric Oncology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden;

关键词: Microglia;    Sex differences;    Epigenetics;    Disease;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12974-021-02124-z

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

There are inherent structural and functional differences in the central nervous systems (CNS) of females and males. It has been gradually established that these sex-specific differences are due to a spectrum of genetic, epigenetic, and hormonal factors which actively contribute to the differential incidences, disease courses, and even outcomes of CNS diseases between sexes. Microglia, as principle resident macrophages in the CNS, play a crucial role in both CNS physiology and pathology. However, sex differences of microglia have been relatively unexplored until recently. Emerging data has convincingly demonstrated the existence of sex-dependent structural and functional differences of rodent microglia, consequently changing our current understanding of these versatile cells. In this review, we attempt to comprehensively outline the current advances revealing microglial sex differences in rodent and their potential implications for specific CNS diseases with a stark sex difference. A detailed understanding of molecular processes underlying microglial sex differences is of major importance in design of translational sex- and microglia-specific therapeutic approaches.

【 授权许可】

CC BY