Experiments have been performed on microglia, the resident macrophage in central nervous system. There are many functional similarities between macrophages and neutrophils. We have shown the functional similarity of macroglia to neutrophils. Cultured microglia and neutrophils exhibit chemotaxis. Many substances which stimulate chemotaxis of neutrophils also stimulate chemotaxis of microglia. Culturing microglia under conditions that produce different stages of activation result in a different response to opsonized zymosan. In other experiments, we have demonstrated that the squid giant synapse is able to function for almost an hour in absence of oxygen.
