Neuroglia and immune cells play different roles in neuroinflammation and neuroimmune response in post-stroke neural injury and repair.

Abstract

Neuroinflammation and immune responses mediated by glial cells and immune cells play dual roles in the neural injury and repair of ischemic stroke (IS): glial cells and immune cells primarily have a detrimental role in the acute phase of IS, while they mainly serve a reparative function in the chronic phase. Thus, suppressing neuroinflammation and immune responses driven by glial and immune cells represents a major strategy in the treatment of IS. In this review, we provide an overview of the molecular mechanisms of neuroinflammation and immune responses mediated by glial cells and immune cells at different stages after IS and highlight the roles of different glial cells and immune cells in post-IS neural injury and repair. We also summarize the relevant molecular targets and clinical application challenges for reducing neuroinflammation and immune responses to promote IS repair. Current evidence supports that PD-1/PD-L1, DAPK1, HDAC3-p65-cGAS-STING could be the targets. In addition, we discuss some treatment strategies for reducing neuroinflammation and immune responses such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and natural product therapy, stem cell-based therapy and biomaterials, as well as current clinical trial progress and prospects.