We describe the genome-wide expression profile of Drosophila larval astrocytes for the first time. Among the expected GO categories revealed by this analysis were those required for glial support of the nervous system. Genes encoding vesicle secretion components were overrepresented in the dataset, indicating the importance of this process for astrocyte function. Comparison of these results wit...

Neuronal activity results in increased blood flow in the brain, a response named functional hyperemia. Astrocytes play an important role in mediating this response. Neurotransmitters released from active neurons evoke Ca(2+) increases in astrocytes, leading to the release of vasoactive metabolites of arachidonic acid from astrocyte endfeet onto blood vessels. Synthesis of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2...

In this paper, we describe a microfluidic platform that enables three dimensional cell culture within defined microenvironments towards a study of axon-glia interaction. The microdevice can offer both 3D axon isolation from cell body and 3D spatial cell separation between neuron and astrocyte. It consists of large fluidic channels for media supply and small channels for collagen filling as a th...

Astrocytes are considered the third component of the synapse, responding to neurotransmitter release from synaptic terminals and releasing gliotransmitters--including glutamate--in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner to affect neuronal synaptic activity. Many studies reporting astrocyte-driven neuronal activity have evoked astrocyte Ca(2+) increases by application of endogenous ligands that directly acti...

Astrocytes constitute a major cell population in the brain with a myriad of essential functions, yet we know remarkably little about the signaling pathways and mechanisms that direct astrocyte maturation. To explore the signals regulating astrocyte development, we prospectively purified and cultured immature postnatal rodent astrocytes. We identified fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) and bone mo...

The functions of the glymphatic system include clearance metabolic waste and modulation water transport in brain, it forms a brain-wide fluid network along with cerebrospinal (CSF) interstitial (ISF). pathway consists periarterial influx CSF, astrocyte-mediated interchange between ISF CSF supported by aquaporin-4 (AQP4) on endfeet astrocyte around periarterioles, perivenous efflux CSF. Finally,...

Astrocytes have emerged as important partners of neurons in information processing. Important progress has been made in the past two decades in understanding the role of astrocytes in the generation of neuron-astrocyte network outputs resulting in behavior. We review evidence for astrocyte involvement across four different behavioral domains: cognition, emotion, motor, and sensory processing. A...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neuroprotective polypeptide that is thought to be responsible for neuron proliferation, differentiation, and survival. An agent that enhances production of BDNF is expected to be useful for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Here we report that galectin-1, a member of the family of beta-galactoside binding proteins, induces astrocyte diffe...

Starting from the experimental data on ATP evoked calcium responses in astrocytes, a biophysical model describing these phenomena was built. The simulations showed, in agreement with the experimental findings, that the intracellular calcium fluxes mediated by the P2X and P2Y purinoreceptors are responsible for the biphasic ATP evoked calcium response in astrocytes. Then, the modulation effects ...

Astrocytes are promising source cells to replace neurons lost disease owing a shared lineage and capacities for dedifferentiation proliferation under pathological conditions. Reprogramming of astrocytes has been achieved by transcription factor modulation, but reprogramming in vitro or vivo using small‐molecule drugs may have several advantages clinical application. For instance, small molecule...