Articles

  • the Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences

Article

Review Article

Exp Neurobiol 2018; 27(2): 77-87

Published online April 30, 2018

https://doi.org/10.5607/en.2018.27.2.77

© The Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences

Astrocytes, Microglia, and Parkinson’s Disease

Eun-Hye Joe1,2,3,4*, Dong-Joo Choi1,4, Jiawei An2, Jin-Hwa Eun2,Ilo Jou1,2,4 and Sangmyun Park1,2,4

1Department of Pharmacology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon 16944, 2Department of Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience Graduate Program, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon 16944, 3Department of Brain Science, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon 16944, 4Chronic Inflammatory Disease Research Center, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon 16944, Korea

Correspondence to: *To whom correspondence should be addressed.
TEL: 82-31-219-5062, FAX: 82-31-219-5069
e-mail: ehjoe@ajou.ac.kr

Received: April 3, 2018; Revised: April 14, 2018; Accepted: April 16, 2018

Astrocytes and microglia support well-being and well-function of the brain through diverse functions in both intact and injured brain. For example, astrocytes maintain homeostasis of microenvironment of the brain through up-taking ions and neurotransmitters, and provide growth factors and metabolites for neurons, etc. Microglia keep surveying surroundings, and remove abnormal synapses or respond to injury by isolating injury sites and expressing inflammatory cytokines. Therefore, their loss and/or functional alteration may be directly linked to brain diseases. Since Parkinson's disease (PD)-related genes are expressed in astrocytes and microglia, mutations of these genes may alter the functions of these cells, thereby contributing to disease onset and progression. Here, we review the roles of astrocytes and microglia in intact and injured brain, and discuss how PD genes regulate their functions.

Graphical Abstract


Keywords: Parkinson’s disease, Glia cell, Astrocyte, Microglia