TREM2在阿尔兹海默症中的研究进展

Research progress of TREM2 in Alzheimer′s disease

小胶质细胞是中枢神经系统(central nervous system,CNS)中发挥主要免疫作用的细胞,近年来,大量研究表明其对于健康状态下脑稳态的维持及神经系统疾病发展均发挥重要作用。髓系细胞触发受体2(triggering receptor expressed on myeloidcells 2,TREM2)是一种在脑组织中仅表达于小胶质细胞的单程跨膜受体。最初发现TREM2的失活突变与Nasu-Hakola(NHD)的发生相关,而在发现TREM2编码点单核苷酸多态性(single nucleotidepolymorphisms,SNPs)可显著增加阿尔兹海默症发病风险后则更受关注。该文就TREM2结构、功能,及其与阿尔兹海默症等中枢神经系统疾病的关联性进行分析,探讨TREM2在维持中枢神经系统健康状态中的作用及其作为脑疾病治疗靶点的可能。

Microglia are the main immune cells in central nervous system.In recent years,an explosion of new findings has revealed diverse roles of microglia in both healthy brain tissues and central nervous system(CNS)disorders.Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2(TREM2),a single-pass transmembrane receptorin brain,is localized mainly on microglia.Initially,the inactivation mutations of TREM2 were found to be associated with a rare recessive disease known as Nasu-Hakola disease(NHD),but it attracted more attention after researchers found that single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNP)in genes encoding TREM2 could significantly increase the risk of Alzheimer′s disease.In this article,we review the latest discoveries on structures and functions of TREM2 and its roles in central nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer′s disease,and discuss whether it can be a potential target to elicit a protective role for brain diseases in clinic.