Issue Archive

Dual roles and mechanism of microglia in ischemic stroke

CHENG Ming-Xing¹, LI Chen-Hui¹, MENG Wei², WANG Chen^1,*

¹State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, School of Life Science and Technologye, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China ；²School of Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China

Abstract

Stroke is the second most common cause of death after cancer worldwide and a major cause of acquired disability in adults. Overwhelming majority of strokes are caused by cerebral ischemia and are classified as ischemic stroke. Microglia are the resident immune cells and play dual roles in response to ischemia injury in the central nervous system (CNS). On the one hand, microglia may contribute to tissue function recovery process by promoting inflammation resolution, cellular debris clearance, nerve regeneration and synapse remodeling. On the other hand, excessive activation of microglia aggravates nerve damage after ischemic injury. Here, we briefly describe the mechanism of microglia activation after stroke, and comprehensively review the dual role of microglia in neurodegeneration and regeneration after stroke. In-depth exploration of the cytotoxic and protective mechanisms of microglia will provide new targets and new strategies for stroke treatment.

Key words: ischemic stroke; microglia; inflammation; phagocytosis

Received: 2020-12-18　　Accepted: 2021-02-26

Corresponding author: 王琛　　E-mail: cwang1971@cpu.edu.cn

Citing This Article：

CHENG Ming-Xing, LI Chen-Hui, MENG Wei, WANG Chen. Dual roles and mechanism of microglia in ischemic stroke. Acta Physiol Sin 2021; 73 (6): 963-972 (in Chinese with English abstract).