Developmental regulation of retinal microglia

项目总结 小胶质细胞是中枢神经系统的神经免疫细胞，在发育过程中发挥着重要的作用。而大脑 小胶质细胞已被广泛研究，但对其分子特性和功能知之甚少。 在发育中的视网膜中。这项建议的目标是解决视网膜小胶质细胞在视网膜病变过程中的变化 发展，涉及的分子途径，以及这与其功能的关系。第一个目标是 确定胚胎和出生后早期是否存在分子上不同的小胶质细胞亚群 视网膜。第二个目标是利用知识研究小胶质细胞在出生后早期视网膜中的功能。 关于他们的基因表达特征，并针对他们的耗尽。最后，在最后一个目标中，我们将测试 发育事件支配视网膜小胶质细胞的表型和功能，以及涉及的分子途径。 通过确定小胶质细胞特性的变化如何调节和促进视网膜的发育 我们将深入了解视网膜发育和小胶质细胞功能的基本机制。今年5月 最终让我们了解小胶质细胞是如何被调节并参与退行性疾病的 导致视力丧失的过程。

PROJECT SUMMARY Microglia, the resident neuroimmune cells of the CNS, play important developmental roles. While brain microglia have been extensively studied, less is known about the molecular properties and function of microglia in the developing retina. The goal of this proposal is to address how retinal microglia change over the course of development, the molecular pathways involved and how this relates to their function. The first aim will determine whether there are molecularly distinct subpopulations of microglia in embryonic and early postnatal retina. The second aim will address the function of microglia in the early postnatal retina by utilizing knowledge about their gene expression signature and targeting them for depletion. Finally, in the last aim we will test how developmental events govern retinal microglia phenotype and function, and the molecular pathways involved. By determining how changes in microglial properties are regulated and contribute to development of the retina we will gain insight into fundamental mechanisms of retina development and microglial function. This may ultimately inform our understanding of how microglia are modulated and participate in degenerative disease processes resulting in loss of vision.