Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience (Sep 2020)

Beneficial Roles of Microglia and Growth Factors in MS, a Brief Review

  • Vincent Pons,
  • Serge Rivest

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2020.00284
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14

Abstract

Read online

Microglia are the brain resident immune cells; they can produce a large variety of growth factors (GFs) to prevent neuronal damages and promote recovery. In neurodegenerative diseases, microglia can play both benefic and deleterious roles, depending on different factors and disease context. In multiple sclerosis, microglia are involved in both demyelination (DM) and remyelination (RM) processes. Recent studies suggest a beneficial role of microglia in regenerative processes. These include the regenerative development of myelin after DM. This review gives an overlook of how microglia and GFs can influence the RM properties.

Keywords