Astrocytes: Role and Functions in Brain Pathologies

Frontiers in Pharmacology

Roberta Fusco¹  Rosalba Siracusa¹  Salvatore Cuzzocrea² 

[1] Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Science, University of Messina, Messina, Italy;Department of Pharmacological and Physiological Science, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, United States;

关键词: astrocytes;    Alzheimer disease;    Huntington disease;    epilepsy;    ischemic stroke;    drug;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fphar.2019.01114

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Astrocytes are a population of cells with distinctive morphological and functional characteristics that differ within specific areas of the brain. Postnatally, astrocyte progenitors migrate to reach their brain area and related properties. They have a regulatory role of brain functions that are implicated in neurogenesis and synaptogenesis, controlling blood–brain barrier permeability and maintaining extracellular homeostasis. Mature astrocytes also express some genes enriched in cell progenitors, suggesting they can retain proliferative potential. Considering heterogeneity of cell population, it is not surprising that their disorders are related to a wide range of different neuro-pathologies. Brain diseases are characterized by the active inflammatory state of the astrocytes, which is usually described as up-regulation of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). In particular, the loss of astrocytes function as a result of cellular senescence could have implications for the neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer disease and Huntington disease, and for the aging brain. Astrocytes can also drive the induction and the progression of the inflammatory state due to their Ca2+ signals and that it is strongly related to the disease severity/state. Moreover, they contribute to the altered neuronal activity in several frontal cortex pathologies such as ischemic stroke and epilepsy. There, we describe the current knowledge pertaining to astrocytes’ role in brain pathologies and discuss the possibilities to target them as approach toward pharmacological therapies for neuro-pathologies.

【 授权许可】

Unknown