Analyzing the Connections of Microglial Phenotypes in the Progression of Neurodegeneration and Tumors And The Future For Therapeutic Treatments

Abstract

Immunotherapies have proven immense success in treating autoimmune diseases in the human body but researchers know little about the effectiveness of using the brain’s immune cells, microglia, to treat neurodegeneration and tumors. But it can be inferred from microglia’s plasticity and heterogeneity that they could play a key role in altering the future for therapeutic treatment options by targeting specific glial factors and attacking lesions in the early stage of progression. Microglia can be easily influenced by their microenvironment to progress or impede inflammation and within any given disease, there is a diverse microenvironment present full of various phenotypes. Understanding how these changes can be triggered can be invaluable in treating various forms of brain disease by creating targeted treatments. Specifically in Gliomas, microglia have shown to communicate with tumor cells to improve function so limiting the glioma cells to work in an autocrine as opposed to a paracrine manner will significantly hinder their growth and the tumor severity. In neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s), TREM2 mutations have shown to be both neuroprotective and neurotoxic but using microglia as a tool to inhibit TREM2 before neurodegeneration reaches its untreatable stages could be the key towards finding a treatment for these incurable diseases. Utilizing the brain’s innate negative feedback loop and the key players in this loop could be the key towards unlocking new ways to approach existing diseases and possibly treat them.