What is the main function of the astrocytes?
What is the main function of the astrocytes?
Astrocytes are the most numerous cell type within the central nervous system (CNS) and perform a variety of tasks, from axon guidance and synaptic support, to the control of the blood brain barrier and blood flow. To perform these roles, there is a great variety of astrocytes.
What does the protoplasmic astrocyte do?
Protoplasmic astrocytes posses highly branched bushy processes and are widely distributed in the gray matter. They extend endfeet to blood vessels and enwrap them to form the glial limiting membrane, which is the outermost wall of the blood brain barrier (BBB). The functions of fibrous astrocytes are not clear.
What is the function of reactive astrocytes?
In normal situations, reactive astrocytes are the main regulators in brain’s inflammatory response, but under pathological conditions in the brain, reactive astrocytes may be neurotoxic when producing inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species [59].
What is the function of an oligodendrocyte?
Oligodendrocytes are the myelinating cells of the central nervous system (CNS). They are the end product of a cell lineage which has to undergo a complex and precisely timed program of proliferation, migration, differentiation, and myelination to finally produce the insulating sheath of axons.
Are astrocytes in the CNS or PNS?
Neuroglia in the CNS include astrocytes, microglial cells, ependymal cells and oligodendrocytes. Neuroglia in the PNS include Schwann cells and satellite cells. Astrocytes support and brace the neurons and anchor them to their nutrient supply lines.
What is protoplasmic process?
protoplasm, the cytoplasm and nucleus of a cell. The term was first defined in 1835 as the ground substance of living material and, hence, responsible for all living processes. Today the term is used to mean simply the cytoplasm and nucleus.
Why do astrocytes become reactive?
Astrocyte reactivity is triggered by any alteration in brain homeostasis. Astrocytes are equipped with many receptors and intracellular signaling cascades to respond quickly to changes in their environment (Buffo et al., 2010; Burda and Sofroniew, 2014).
How do astrocytes become reactive?
(A) Astrocyte reactivity can be triggered by a wide variety of molecules from diverse sources, including any cell type in CNS tissue, as well as from microbial pathogens, circulating inflammatory cells, serum proteins, peripheral metabolic disorders, or environmental toxins.
What is the process of oligodendrocyte?
Oligodendrocytes form the electrical insulation around the axons of CNS nerve cells. A single oligodendrocyte can extend its processes to 50 axons, wrapping approximately 1 μm of myelin sheath around each axon; Schwann cells, on the other hand, can wrap around only one axon. …
What are the functions of astrocytes in the brain?
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.
Which is the best gene to purify astrocytes?
We identified integrin beta 5 (itgb5) as highly expressed and an astrocyte-specific gene suitable for immunopanning. Itgb5 is expressed highly in acutely purified mouse astrocytes both postnatally and in adult brain and was successful at purifying astrocytes from CNS rat cortex.
Why was immunopanning of astrocytes previously impossible?
Due to the lack of known astrocyte-specific surface antigens, immunopanning of astrocytes has previously been impossible.
How are IP astrocytes different from MD astrocytes?
Compared to MD-astrocytes, these immunopanned astrocytes, which we refer to in this paper as IP-astrocytes, maintain gene profiles in culture that much more closely mimic their acutely purified state. Lastly using this new IP-astrocytes preparation, we begin to unravel some of the fundamental functional properties of astrocytes.
