IMR Press / FBL / Volume 28 / Issue 12 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2812363
Open Access Review
Biological Immune Mechanism of Retina
Show Less
1 Department of Ophthalmology, Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University, Fudan University, 200030 Shanghai, China
*Correspondence: jiaxu.hong@fdeent.org (Jiaxu Hong); xujiaozhou@126.com (Xujiao Zhou)
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2023, 28(12), 363; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2812363
Submitted: 6 July 2023 | Revised: 25 August 2023 | Accepted: 25 September 2023 | Published: 29 December 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Retinal Biology in Health and Disease)
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

The blood-retinal barrier (BRB) is a well-recognized mechanism that underlies the retina’s immunological privilege. The BRB is formed locally by inhibitory molecules that bind to cell membranes, as well as by the suppression of systemic immune responses. Recent studies have revealed that microglial cells are essential for maintaining immunological privilege within the retina by regulating the immune response. They achieve this by enhancing or reducing ocular inflammation. Furthermore, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) regulates the behavior of immune cells within the retina, which can lead microglial cells to reduce inflammation and promote immunological tolerance. With the aim of better understanding the biology of immunological processes within the retina, this article reviews the BRB and discusses the factors, systemic immune responses, microglia, RPE, and their associated enzymes that enable the BRB.

Keywords
retina
immune mechanisms
BRB
microglia
retinal pigment epithelium
Graphical Abstract
View Full Image
Download
Funding
81970766/National Natural Science Foundation of China
821711102/National Natural Science Foundation of China
82271044/National Natural Science Foundation of China
Share
Back to top