Key roles of glial cells in the encephalopathy of prematurity
Résumé
Across the globe, approximately one in 10 babies are born preterm, that is, before
37 weeks of a typical 40 weeks of gestation. Up to 50% of preterm born infants
develop brain injury, encephalopathy of prematurity (EoP), that substantially increases
their risk for developing lifelong defects in motor skills and domains of learning, memory,
emotional regulation, and cognition. We are still severely limited in our abilities
to prevent or predict preterm birth. No longer just the “support cells,” we now clearly
understand that during development glia are key for building a healthy brain. Glial
dysfunction is a hallmark of EoP, notably, microgliosis, astrogliosis, and oligodendrocyte
injury. Our knowledge of glial biology during development is exponentially
expanding but hasn't developed sufficiently for development of effective neuroregenerative
therapies. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge for the
roles of glia in infants with EoP and its animal models, and a description of known
glial-cell interactions in the context of EoP, such as the roles for border-associated
macrophages. The field of perinatal medicine is relatively small but has worked passionately
to improve our understanding of the etiology of EoP coupled with detailed
mechanistic studies of pre-clinical and human cohorts. A primary finding from this
review is that expanding our collaborations with computational biologists, working
together to understand the complexity of glial subtypes, glial maturation, and the
impacts of EoP in the short and long term will be key to the design of therapies that
improve outcomes.
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Glia - 2023 - Van Steenwinckel - Key roles of glial cells in the encephalopathy of prematurity.pdf (3.86 Mo)
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