作为中枢神经系统中单核吞噬细胞的一个子集，小胶质细胞在免疫防御和体内平衡维持中发挥着至关重要的作用。小胶质细胞可以根据特定的健康和病理信号调节其状态。小胶质细胞介导的神经炎症是神经退行性疾病、神经损伤和神经肿瘤的病理标志，强调了其在这些疾病中的关键免疫调节作用。有趣的是，大量研究表明，细胞外囊泡可以通过运输亲本细胞的物质来介导细胞间通讯，这一特性也反映在涉及小胶质细胞的微环境信号网络中。基于小胶质细胞的特征，我们简要概述了细胞外囊泡的生物学特征，重点总结了小胶质细胞在维持神经系统稳态和不同神经系统疾病进展中所发挥的综合作用。细胞外囊泡可能作为细胞间通讯的媒介参与稳态维持和病理过程。在这里，我们的目标是为进一步探索神经系统疾病发病机制提供新的见解，这可能为无细胞疗法提供理论基础。版权所有© 2024 The Authors。由爱思唯尔公司出版。保留所有权利。

As a subset of mononuclear phagocytes in the central nervous system, microglia play a crucial role in immune defense and homeostasis maintenance. Microglia can regulate their states in response to specific signals of health and pathology. Microglia-mediated neuroinflammation is a pathological hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases, neurological damage and neurological tumors, underscoring its key immunoregulatory role in these conditions. Intriguingly, a substantial body of research has indicated that extracellular vesicles can mediate intercellular communication by transporting cargoes from parental cells, a property that is also reflected in microenvironmental signaling networks involving microglia. Based on the microglial characteristics, we briefly outline the biological features of extracellular vesicles and focus on summarizing the integrative role played by microglia in the maintenance of nervous system homeostasis and progression of different neurological diseases. Extracellular vesicles may engage in the homeostasis maintenance and pathological process as a medium of intercellular communication. Here, we aim to provide new insights for further exploration of neurological disease pathogenesis, which may provide theoretical foundations for cell-free therapies.Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.