REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Cell Death and Survival
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1656732
This article is part of the Research TopicCell Death: A New Frontier in Cancer ResearchView all 4 articles
Microglia and Programmed Cell Death in Spinal Cord Injury: Beyond Apoptosis
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Anesthesiology, General Hospital of Northern Theater, Shenyang, China
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Spinal cord injury (SCI) triggers a multifaceted cascade of cellular and molecular events that profoundly influence the extent of secondary damage. Central to this process, microglia—the innate immune cells of the central nervous system—display a range of programmed cell death pathways that have significant implications for injury outcomes. This article mainly focuses on three key programmed cell death modalities that have emerged in SCI: ferroptosis, autophagy, and pyroptosis. Ferroptosis, characterized by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, autophagy, which can serve dual roles in cell survival and death, and pyroptosis, an inflammatory form of cell death, contribute uniquely to the progression and resolution of post-injury neuroinflammation. We examine the underlying molecular mechanisms, the regulatory networks that integrate these pathways, and how their dysregulation may exacerbate tissue damage. Moreover, potential therapeutic strategies to modulate these specific cell death processes are discussed, offering promising avenues for reducing secondary damage and enhancing recovery in patients with SCI.
Keywords: spinal cord injury, Microglia, Autophagy, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis, Neuroinflammation
Received: 30 Jun 2025; Accepted: 15 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Guoquan, He, Zhou, Liu and Dong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Wenfei Dong, wenfeidong74@gmail.com
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