microglia

[Nature Immunology] The authors describe the immune niches within the brain, the contribution of professional immune cells to brain functions, the bidirectional relationships between the CNS and the immune system and the relevance of immune components to brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases.

[AB Science SA] AB Science SA announced that it has received the first authorization to resume patient enrollment in the confirmatory Phase III study of masitinib in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Masitinib is a orally administered tyrosine kinase inhibitor that targets mast cells and macrophages, important cells for immunity, through inhibiting a limited number of kinases.

[Cellular & Molecular Immunology] Scientists provide an overview of the microglial regulation of synapses, perisynaptic matrix, and perineuronal nets, propose candidate mechanisms by which these structures may be modified, and present the implications of such modifications in normal brain homeostasis and in disease.

[Cell Stem Cell] Around day 30, brain organoids attempted to assemble optic vesicles, which developed progressively as visible structures within 60 days. These optic vesicle-containing brain organoids constitute a developing optic vesicle’s cellular components, including primitive corneal epithelial and lens-like cells, retinal pigment epithelia, retinal progenitor cells, axon-like projections, and electrically active neuronal networks.

[Molecular Psychiatry] In vitro studies showed that an interaction between amyloid precursor protein (APP) and the iron-bound form of lactoferrin secreted from activated microglia diverted neuronal APP endocytosis from the canonical clathrin-dependent pathway to one requiring ADP ribosylation factor 6 trafficking.

[Neuropsychopharmacology] Scientists investigated the mechanisms underlying the aberrant activation of microglia elicited by Meth in the adult mouse brain. They found that binge Meth exposure caused microgliosis and disrupted risk assessment behavior both of which required astrocyte-to-microglia crosstalk.