BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The formation of reactive astrocytes is common after central nervous system injuries such as stroke. However, the signaling pathway(s) that control astrocyte formation and functions are poorly defined. We assess the effects of Notch 1 signaling in peri-infarct-reactive astrocytes after stroke. METHODS We examined reactive astrocyte formation in the peri-infarct area 3 d...

We have studied semithin frozen sections of developing and adult rat central nervous system (CNS) by indirect immunofluorescence in order to determine the antigenic phenotype of protoplasmic and fibrous astrocytes. Using antibodies against glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) to identify astrocytes, we show that the great majority of fibrous astrocytes in adult optic nerve are labeled by the ...

HIV infiltrates the brain at early times postinfection and remains latent within astrocytes and macrophages. Because astrocytes are the most abundant cell type in the brain, we evaluated epigenetic regulation of HIV latency in astrocytes. We have shown that class I histone deacetylases (HDACs) and a lysine-specific histone methyltransferase, SU(VAR)3-9, play a significant role in silencing of H...

Astrocytes perform essential neuron-supporting functions in the central nervous system (CNS) and their disruption has devastating effects on neuronal integrity in multiple neuropathologies. Although astrocytes are considered resistant to most pathological insults, ischemia can result in astrocyte injury and astrocytes in postnatal white matter are particularly vulnerable. Metabotropic glutamate...

objective(s): the stimulation of neural stem cells (nscs) differentiation into neurons has attracted great attention in management of neurodegenerative disease and traumatic brain injury. it has been reported that selegiline could enhance the morphologic differentiation of embryonic stem cells. therefore this study aimed to investigate the effects of selegiline on nscs differentiation with focu...

Astrocytes but not neurons express cystine/glutamate exchange transporter (xCT), which takes up cystine, and consequently supplies the substrate for GSH synthesis in neurons. It is recognized that GSH synthesis in neurons is dependent on the expression of xCT in astrocytes. Previous studies reported that levetiracetam (LEV), an anti-epileptic drug, increased xCT expression in vivo. The purpose ...

The existence of bidirectional signaling between astrocytes and neurons has revealed an important active role of astrocytes in the physiology of the nervous system. As a consequence, there is a new concept of the synaptic physiology-"the tripartite synapse", where astrocytes exchange information with the pre- and postsynaptic elements and participate as dynamic regulatory elements in neurotrans...

Growing evidence implicates the importance of glia, particularly astrocytes, in neurological and psychiatric diseases. Here, we describe a rapid and robust method for the differentiation of highly pure populations of replicative astrocytes from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), via a neural progenitor cell (NPC) intermediate. We evaluated this protocol across 42 NPC lines (derived ...

There is increasing evidence to suggest that the neuronal response to hypoxia is regulated through their interactions with astrocytes. However, the hypoxia-induced molecular mechanisms within astrocytes which influence neuronal death have yet to be characterized. In this study, we investigated the roles of the nuclear receptor RORα (retinoid-related orphan receptor-α) respectively in neurons an...

The regulation of feeding behaviour is a complex process controlled by neural circuits in the brain. In addition to neurons, genetic and pharmacological studies animal models are revealing that glia, including astrocytes, important components these circuits. This review incorporates latest evidence (published since 2019) from different brain regions for contribution astrocytes regulating contro...