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Complement dependent synaptic reorganisation during critical periods of brain development and risk for psychiatric disorder

Westacott, Laura and Wilkinson, Lawrence ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9337-6124 2022. Complement dependent synaptic reorganisation during critical periods of brain development and risk for psychiatric disorder. Frontiers in Neuroscience 16 , 840266. 10.3389/fnins.2022.840266

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Abstract

We now know that the immune system plays a major role in the complex processes underlying brain development throughout the lifespan, carrying out a number of important homeostatic functions under physiological conditions in the absence of pathological inflammation or infection. In particular, complement-mediated synaptic pruning during critical periods of early life may play a key role in shaping brain development and subsequent risk for psychopathology, including neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. However, these disorders vary greatly in their onset, disease course, and prevalence amongst sexes suggesting complex interactions between the immune system, sex and the unique developmental trajectories of circuitries underlying different brain functions which are yet to be fully understood. Perturbations of homeostatic neuroimmune interactions during different critical periods in which regional circuits mature may have a plethora of long-term consequences for psychiatric phenotypes, but at present there is a gap in our understanding of how these mechanisms may impact on the structural and functional changes occurring in the brain at different developmental stages. In this article we will consider the latest developments in the field of complement mediated synaptic pruning where our understanding is beginning to move beyond the visual system where this process was first described, to brain areas and developmental periods of potential relevance to psychiatric disorders.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Medicine
MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (CNGG)
Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute (NMHRI)
Publisher: Frontiers Media
ISSN: 1662-4548
Funders: MRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 16 March 2022
Date of Acceptance: 9 March 2022
Last Modified: 22 May 2023 21:26
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/148422

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