Astrocytes - a prominent glial cell type in the brain form networks that tightly interact with brain's neuronal circuits. Thus, it is essential to study modes of such interaction if we aim understand how neural circuits process information. Thereby, calcium elevations, primary signal astrocytes, propagate adjacent neighboring cells and directly regulate communication. It mostly unknown astrocyt...

Introduction: Recent studies have shown that astrocytes play major roles in normal and disease condition of the central nervous system including multiple sclerosis (MS). Molecular target therapy studies in MS have revealed that connexin-43 (Cx43) and Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) contents of astrocytes undergo expression alteration. Fluoxetine had some effects in MS patients unrelated to its known antidep...

In the last decades, astrocytes have risen from passive supporters of neuronal activity to central players in brain function and cognition. Likewise, the heterogeneity of astrocytes starts to become recognized in contrast to the homogeneous population previously predicted. In this review, we focused on astrocyte heterogeneity in terms of their morphological, protein expression and functional as...

Both hyaluronan [HA, the major glycosaminoglycans in the extracellular matrix (ECM)] and CD44 (a primary HA receptor) are associated with astrocyte activation and tissue repair following central nervous system (CNS) injury. In this study we investigated the question of whether HA-CD44 interaction influences astrocyte signaling and migration. Our data indicated that HA binding to the cultured as...

Astrocyte activation observed in the MPTP mouse model and Parkinson's disease patients participates in the cascade of deleterious events that ultimately leads to death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). The present study aimed to elucidate whether inhibiting astrocyte activation was involved in the protective effects of iptakalim (Ipt), a novel ATP-sensitive p...

The epsilon4 allele of apolipoprotein E (apoE) is associated with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and poor outcome after brain injury. In the CNS, apoE is expressed by glia, predominantly astrocytes. To define the potential biological functions of different human apoE isoforms produced within the brain, transgenic mice were generated in which human apoE3 and apoE4 expression is unde...

We provide an overview of recent progress on the study of astrocyte intracellular Ca(2+) signaling. We consider the methods that have been used to monitor astrocyte Ca(2+) signals, the various types of Ca(2+) signals that have been discovered (waves, microdomains, and intrinsic fluctuations), the approaches used to broadly trigger and block Ca(2+) signals, and, where possible, the proposed and ...

Astrocytes play crucial roles in the brain and are involved in the neuroinflammatory response. They become reactive in response to virtually all pathological situations in the brain such as axotomy, ischemia, infection, and neurodegenerative diseases (ND). Astrocyte reactivity was originally characterized by morphological changes (hypertrophy, remodeling of processes) and the overexpression of ...

The impairment of astrocyte functions is associated with diabetes mellitus and other neurodegenerative diseases. Astrocytes have been proposed to be essential cells for neuroprotection against elevated levels of methylglyoxal (MG), a highly reactive aldehyde derived from the glycolytic pathway. MG exposure impairs primary astrocyte viability, as evaluated by different assays, and these cells re...