研究人员发现，在小鼠出生后发育的关键窗口期间，接受GABA的小胶质细胞选择性地与抑制性皮质突触相互作用。GABA在这些专门的小胶质细胞内启动转录突触重塑程序，从而在不影响兴奋性突触的情况下塑造抑制性连接。小胶质细胞内GABAB受体的敲除会损害这一过程并导致行为异常。这些发现表明，大脑连接依赖于匹配的神经元和神经胶质细胞类型之间的选择性交流。
据介绍，小胶质细胞是大脑的常驻免疫细胞，已成为突触细化和大脑连接的关键调节因子。然而，发育过程中不同突触类型的重塑是否由专门的小胶质细胞介导尚不清楚。
附：英文原文
Title: GABA-receptive microglia selectively sculpt developing inhibitory circuits
Author: Emilia Favuzzi, Shuhan Huang, Giuseppe A. Saldi, Loc Binan, Leena A. Ibrahim, Marian Fernández-Otero, Yuqing Cao, Ayman Zeine, Adwoa Sefah, Karen Zheng, Qing Xu, Elizaveta Khlestova, Samouil L. Farhi, Richard Bonneau, Sandeep Robert Datta, Beth Stevens, Gord Fishell
Issue&Volume: 2021-07-06
Abstract: Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, have emerged as crucial regulatorsof synaptic refinement and brain wiring. However, whether the remodeling of distinctsynapse types during development is mediated by specialized microglia is unknown.Here, we show that GABA-receptive microglia selectively interact with inhibitory corticalsynapses during a critical window of mouse postnatal development. GABA initiates atranscriptional synapse remodeling program within these specialized microglia, whichin turn sculpt inhibitory connectivity without impacting excitatory synapses. Ablationof GABAB receptors within microglia impairs this process and leads to behavioral abnormalities.These findings demonstrate that brain wiring relies on the selective communicationbetween matched neuronal and glial cell types.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.06.018
Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00753-4