Microscopic image of coloured macrophages after a stroke. Image: AG Stumm/UKJ
Microscopic image of coloured macrophages after a stroke. Image: AG Stumm/UKJ - Molecular switch in bone marrow stem cells helps research into inflammatory processes in the brain Life 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. The results have now been published in the journal "Nature Neuroscience". In ancient Greek, the term macrophage means something like "big eater". These cells are components of our innate immune system that are present in every tissue of our body.
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