浙江大学医学院谷岩团队研究发现，小胶质细胞通过补体依赖性突触消除介导遗忘。这一研究成果2020年2月7日发表在国际学术期刊《科学》上。

他们发现健康成年小鼠海马中的小胶质细胞吞噬了突触成分。小胶质细胞的减少或小胶质细胞吞噬作用的抑制可防止遗忘和印记细胞的分离。通过引入CD55抑制补体途径，特别是在印记细胞中，他们进一步证明了小胶质细胞以补体和活性依赖性方式调节遗忘。此外，小胶质细胞参与神经发生相关和神经发生无关的记忆退化。同时，他们的研究结果表明小胶质细胞消除补体依赖的突触是潜在的遥远记忆遗忘的机制。

据了解，人们认为印记细胞之间的突触是记忆存储的底物，这些突触的减弱或丢失导致相关记忆的遗忘。

附：英文原文

Title: Microglia mediate forgetting via complement-dependent synaptic elimination

Author: Chao Wang, Huimin Yue, Zhechun Hu, Yuwen Shen, Jiao Ma, Jie Li, Xiao-Dong Wang, Liang Wang, Binggui Sun, Peng Shi, Lang Wang, Yan Gu

Issue&Volume: 2020/02/07

Abstract: Synapses between engram cells are believed to be substrates for memory storage, and the weakening or loss of these synapses leads to the forgetting of related memories. We found engulfment of synaptic components by microglia in the hippocampi of healthy adult mice. Depletion of microglia or inhibition of microglial phagocytosis prevented forgetting and the dissociation of engram cells. By introducing CD55 to inhibit complement pathways, specifically in engram cells, we further demonstrated that microglia regulated forgetting in a complement- and activity-dependent manner. Additionally, microglia were involved in both neurogenesis-related and neurogenesis-unrelated memory degradation. Together, our findings revealed complement-dependent synapse elimination by microglia as a mechanism underlying the forgetting of remote memories.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz2288

Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6478/688