title: Microglia--friend or foe.
abstract: Microglia, as the immune effectors in the central nervous system, respond to pathological conditions and participate in the initiation and progression of neurological disorders such as inflammation and brain tumor by releasing potential neurotrophic or cytotoxic molecules, presenting the antigen to T cell and interacting with brain tumor. Evidences also suggest that microglia are capable of promoting or inhibiting the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells by secreting series of biologically active molecules. In this review, we focus on three aspects-inflammation, neurogensis and brain tumor to illustrate the multi-faceted activities of microglia in the normal and pathologic brain.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Department of Histology and Embryology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, PR China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Fu-Wu
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lin-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Ai-Jun
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hao
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D017628:Microglia / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology*; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000276:immunology; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D009569:Nitric Oxide