Human astrocytes express Fas yet are resistant to Fas-induced apoptosis. Here, we report that calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is constitutively activated in human astrocytes and protects the cells from apoptotic stimulation by Fas agonist. Once stimulated, Fas recruits Fas-associated death domain and caspase-8 for the assembly of the death-inducing signaling complex (DIS...

UNLABELLED Astrocytes are the predominant cell type in the nervous system and play a significant role in maintaining neuronal health and homeostasis. Recently, astrocyte dysfunction has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Astrocytes are thus an attract...

One of the most distinguishing features of the adult human brain is the complexity and diversity of its cortical astrocytes. Human protoplasmic astrocytes manifest a threefold larger diameter and have tenfold more primary processes than those of rodents. In all mammals, protoplasmic astrocytes are organized into spatially non-overlapping domains that encompass both neurons and vasculature. Yet ...

Antigen presentation by endogenous glial cells is postulated to regulate reactivity of immune cells that gain entry into the CNS. We have previously observed, using a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) system, that adult human-derived microglia can function as antigen-presenting cells (APC) for immediately ex vivo CD4+ T cells in a primary MLR (1 degree MLR) whereas astrocytes could not. We have n...

Background Astrocytes are specialized glial cells that when exposed to inflammatory factors go through a process known as reactive astrogliosis. Reactive astrocytes neuropathological feature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The etiology AD is often explained by the accumulation β-amyloid peptides, proteolytic product amyloid precursor protein (APP). However, inflammation also plays prominent role i...

Topoisomerase I is required for the proper expression of long genes (> 100 kb) in mouse and human cortical neurons, including many candidate genes for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) [1]. Given the important role of astrocytes in brain development [2], we investigated whether long genes, including autism susceptibility genes, also require topoisomerase I expression in human primary astrocytes. W...

Generating neural stem cells and neurons from reprogrammed human astrocytes is a potential strategy for neurological repair. Here we show dedifferentiation of human cortical astrocytes into the neural stem/progenitor phenotype to obtain progenitor and mature cells with a neural fate. Ectopic expression of the reprogramming factors OCT4, SOX2, or NANOG into astrocytes in specific cytokine/cultur...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the angiogenic status of the human optic nerve head (ONH) with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). METHODS Using real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, we analyzed the expression of proangiogenic and antiangiogenic factors in cultured ONH astrocytes from healthy donors and donors with POAG. Immunohistochemical analysis was used to loc...

Astrocytes are the most abundant cell type in the central nervous system (CNS) and have a multitude of functions that include maintenance of CNS homeostasis, trophic support of neurons, detoxification, and immune surveillance. It has only recently been appreciated that astrocyte dysfunction is a primary cause of many neurological disorders. Despite their importance in disease very little is kno...