New Technique Illuminates Migrating Macrophages To Help Study Stroke

Macrophages are part of the innate immune system and essential for brain development and function.

Using a novel method, scientists from Jena University Hospital, the University of Bonn and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York (USA) succeeded in visualizing macrophages that were formed in the bone marrow. In studies on mice, this technology enabled the researchers to observe that shortly after a stroke, numerous macrophages that had migrated from the blood begin to attack dead and adjacent healthy brain tissue. […] Overall, the researchers see two milestones achieved: Their genetic switch is a universal tool that enables scientists to better investigate the function of immune cells originating from the bone marrow. Furthermore, they show that the Cxcr4 receptor is part of an immune response with which macrophages originating from the bone marrow protect the damaged brain. “The better we understand the spatial and temporal activation of the Cxcr4 molecule during a stroke, the better we will be able to treat patients with Cxcr4-inhibiting drugs in the future,” says Prof. Stumm. […]

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