Glial cells constitute at least half of all cells in the human brain. Long thought to be passive support cells, glia are recently found to be critical for the development and function of the central nervous system. Accumulating evidence show that glia are involved in almost every type of neurological and psychiatric disorder. The cellular and molecular mechanisms that control glia development as well as dysfunction of glia in neurological and psychiatric disorders remains poorly understood. We combine cell culture and mouse genetic approaches to study glia biology in health and disease.
