Focused-ultrasound blood-brain barrier opening promotes neuroprotective microglia

Focused ultrasound blood-brain barrier opening (FUS-BBBO) transiently and noninvasively opens the blood-brain barrier. FUS-BBBO was originally designed for the delivery of neurological therapeutics, however it has also shown efficacy as a neuroimnumotherapeutic. Preliminary studies indicate that these immunotherapeutic effects are due to the stimulation of microglia, the central nervous system's resident macrophage This study provides a temporal analysis of microglia phenotype and population composition in response to FUS-BBBO, including the first evidence of an FUS-BBBO induced increase in the population size of neuroprotective microglia (DAM).