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Neuroglia in ageing and disease

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Abstract

The proper operation of the mammalian brain requires dynamic interactions between neurones and glial cells. Various types of glial cells are susceptible to morpho-functional changes in a variety of brain pathological states, including toxicity, neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Morphological modifications include a change in the glial cell size and shape; the latter is evident by changes of the appearance and number of peripheral processes. The most blatant morphological change is associated with the alteration of the sheer number of neuroglia cells in the brain. Functionally, glial cells can undergo various metabolic and biochemical changes, the majority of which reflect upon homeostasis of neurotransmitters, in particular that of glutamate, as well as on defence mechanisms provided by neuroglia. Not only glial cells exhibit changes associated with the pathology of the brain but they also change with brain aging.

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Acknowledgments

The authors’ research was supported by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust (UK) Programme Grant (ART/PG2004A/1) to A.V. and by the National Institutes of Health (The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development award HD078678).

Competing financial interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Alexei Verkhratsky

  2. IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011, Bilbao, Spain

    Alexei Verkhratsky, José J. Rodríguez & Vladimir Parpura

  3. Department of Neurosciences, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48940, Leioa, Spain

    Alexei Verkhratsky, José J. Rodríguez & Vladimir Parpura

  4. Department of Neurobiology, Center for Glial Biology in Medicine, Civitan International Research Center, Atomic Force Microscopy & Nanotechnology Laboratories, and Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Vladimir Parpura

  5. Department of Biotechnology, University or Rijeka, 51000, Rijeka, Croatia

    Vladimir Parpura

  6. The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK

    Alexei Verkhratsky

  7. IKERBASQUE, The University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Technological Park, Bldg. 205, Floor −1, Laida Bidea, 48170, Zamudio, Bizkaia, Spain

    José J. Rodríguez

  8. Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama, 1719 6th Avenue South, CIRC 429, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA

    Vladimir Parpura

Authors
  1. Alexei Verkhratsky
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  2. José J. Rodríguez
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  3. Vladimir Parpura
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Alexei Verkhratsky, José J. Rodríguez or Vladimir Parpura.

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Verkhratsky, A., Rodríguez, J.J. & Parpura, V. Neuroglia in ageing and disease. Cell Tissue Res 357, 493–503 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-014-1814-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-014-1814-z

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