Abstract: Retinal glial cells, considered as vital immunoregulatory cells, sparked widespread enthusiasm for studying on the mechanism of glaucomatous optic nerve damage via glial cell-driven neuroinflammatory response. In recent years, the important role and molecular mechanism of different types of retinal glial cells such as microglia, astrocytes and Müller cells in glaucoma progression have been gradually revealed. The activation of retinal glial cells is an early event of glaucomatous optic nerve damage, which occurs before the loss of retinal ganglion cells and is regarded as the "trigger" of retinal neuroinflammation. In this review, we make a preliminary sketch of the latest studies from the aspects of microglia, astrocytes, Müller cells and their crosstalk, thereby providing a reference for the molecular mechanism of retinal glial cells involved in glaucomatous optic nerve damage and the formulation of potential targeted treatment strategies. (Int Rev Ophthalmol, 2024, 48:  454-459)

Key words: glaucoma, microglia, astrocyte, Müller cell