Representing the brain’s innate immune cells that interact vividly with blood-derived immune cells and brain parenchymal cells, microglia set the stage for successful brain remodeling and repair in the aftermath of brain damage. With the development of pharmacological colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor inhibitors, which allow inhibiting or depleting microglial cells, and of transgenic mice, allowing the inducible depletion of microglial cells, experimental tools have become available for studying roles of microglia in neurodegenerative and neurorestorative processes. These models open fundamental insights into roles of microglia in controlling synaptic plasticity in the healthy and the injured brain. Acting as a switch from injury to repair, microglial cells might open opportunities for promoting neurological recovery in human patients upon brain injury.

小胶质细胞代表了与血液衍生的免疫细胞和脑实质细胞生动相互作用的先天免疫细胞，为脑损伤后的脑部成功重塑和修复奠定了基础。随着可抑制或消除小胶质细胞的药理菌落刺激因子-1受体抑制剂的发展，以及可诱导小胶质细胞的诱导耗竭的转基因小鼠的发展，实验工具已可用于研究小胶质细胞在神经变性和神经修复过程中的作用。 。这些模型为小胶质细胞在控制健康和受伤的大脑中突触可塑性中的作用提供了基本见解。充当了从受伤到维修的转折，