microglia

microglia, type of neuronal support cell (neuroglia) occurring in the central nervous system of invertebrates and vertebrates that functions primarily as an immune cell.

Microglia were first identified by histological staining with silver carbonate between 1919 and 1921 by Spanish neuroanatomist Pio del Rio-Hortega, who was a student of Spanish histologist Santiago Ramón y Cajal, best known for his work in establishing neurons as the basic units of nervous tissue.

As the name microglia suggests, these cells are small—the smallest of all the neuroglia. Microglia nuclei are typically oval-shaped, and projecting out from their cell bodies are slender elongated processes that enable the cells to move via chemotaxis (movement along a chemical gradient). For many years the function of microglia was unclear. However, today it is known that these cells mediate immune responses in the central nervous system by acting as macrophages, clearing cellular debris and dead neurons from nervous tissue through the process of phagocytosis (cell eating).

The embryonic origin of microglia is distinct from other types of neuroglia. Whereas other neuroglia are derived from an embryonic layer of tissue known as neuroectoderm, which gives rise to nervous tissue, microglia are derived from embryonic mesoderm, which gives rise to cells of the blood and immune system. In developmentally mature organisms microglia also can be generated from white blood cells known as monocytes that circulate in the blood and move into the central nervous system.

Microglia are activated by inflammation in the central nervous system, which may be triggered by neurological degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer disease or by infectious diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Research suggests that microglia can help delay the progression of diseases in the brain that are caused by infectious particles known as prions by eliminating prion-damaged cells.