Microglia were initially discovered by Del Rio Hortega in 1939 and rediscovered in the late 1980's. The first International Microglia Meeting convened in Germany in 1992. Attendees are shown in a photograph taken at the Max Planck Institute. Subpage 1A Link
When cultured in vitro, microglia show multiple shapes and even look amoeboid in appearance. They are highly motile cells both in culture and in the brain where they can rapidly move to sites of injury. Primary cultures of human microglia from surgical transection.
 | Microglia in culture
Microglia were prepared from embryonic mouse cortex (A,B- normal mouse; C,D- mouse model of Down Syndrome)
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Readings:- Streit, W. and C. Colton, The Brain's Immune System, Scientfic American, 273, 38-43, 1995.
- Colton, C. and D. Gilbert, Production of superoxide anions by a CNS macrophage, the microglia. FEBS Lttrs. 223: 284-288, 1987.
- Colton, C., J. Yao, D. Gilbert and M. Oster-Granite, Enhanced production of superoxide by microglia from Trisomy 16 mice, Brain Res. 519:236-242, 1990.
- Yao, J., D. Gilbert and Colton, C., Chemotaxis of cultured CNS microglia, J. Neurosci. Res. 27:36-42, 1990.
- Colton, C., J. Yao, R.E. Taffs, J. Keri and M.L. Oster-Granite, Abnormal production of interleukin-1 by microglia from Trisomy 16 mice, Neurosci. Letters 132:270-274, 1991.
- Colton, C., Abel, C., Patchett, J., Keri, J. and J. Yao, Lectin staining of cultured CNS microglia, J. Histochem. Cytochem. 40: 505-512, 1992.
- Colton, C., J. Keri, D. Gilbert and J. Yao, Regulation of microglial function by interferons, J. Neuroimmunol. 30: 89-98, 1992.
- Yao, J., Keri, J., Taffs, R. and Colton, C., Characterization of interleukin 1 production by microglia in culture, Brain Res. 591: 88-93, 1992.
- Colton, C. and D. Gilbert, Microglia, an in vivo source of reactive oxygen species in the brain, in Neural Regeneration, Ed. F. Seil, Adv. Neurol. 59: 321-326, 1993.
- Colton, C., J. Keri, W. Chen, and W. Monsky, Protease production by cultured microglia: Substrate gel analysis and immobilized matrix degradation, J. Neurosci. Res. 35: 297-304, 1993.
- Czapiga, M. and Colton, C., Function of microglia in organotypic slice cultures, J. Neurosci. Res. 56: 644-651, 1999.
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