Long-Term Synaptic Depression Triggered by Microglia

Zhang et al. discovered that microglial cells sense inflammatory stimuli and hypoxia in the brain via complement receptor 3 and produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) by NADPH oxidase. The diffusion of ROS into neurons triggers long-term depression of synaptic transmission, showing a new mechanism through which microglia rapidly reduce synaptic transmission. For more information, see Zhang et al.,