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Astrocytes (green) in the context of neurons (red) in a mouse cortex cell culture 23-week-old fetal brain culture human astrocyte Astrocytes (red-yellow) among neurons (green) in the living cerebral cortex. Astrocytes are a sub-type of glial cells in the central nervous system. They are also known as astrocytic glial cells.
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The main role of astrocytes is to maintain brain homeostasis and neuronal metabolism. When the astrocytes become activated, they begin to respond to damage. [3] Astrocyte activation, known as astrogliosis, responds to neurological trauma, infections, degradations, epilepsy, and tumorigenesis. Each neurological insult plays a major role in ...
The net effect is a calcium wave that propagates from cell to cell. Extracellular release of ATP and consequent activation of purinergic receptors on other astrocytes may also mediate calcium waves in some cases. In general, there are two types of astrocytes, protoplasmic and fibrous, similar in function but distinct in morphology and distribution.
Evidence for the role of astrocytes in the integration and processing of synaptic integration presents itself in a number of ways: Astrocytes are excitable cells: In response to stimuli from any of the three components of the tripartite synapse, astrocytes are capable of producing transient changes in their intracellular calcium concentrations through release of calcium stores from the ...
Astrocytes are known to facilitate changes in blood flow [7] [8] and have long been thought to play a role in waste removal in the brain. [9] Astrocytes express water channels called aquaporins. [10] Until 2000, no physiological function had been identified that explained their presence in the mammalian CNS.
The astrocytes of the glia limitans are responsible for separating the brain into two primary compartments. The first compartment is the immune-privileged brain and spinal cord parenchyma. This compartment contains multiple immunosuppressive cell surface proteins such as CD200 and CD95L and it allows for the release of anti-inflammatory factors.
Glia are the supporting cells of the neurons and have many functions of which not all are clearly understood, but include providing support and nutrients to the neurons. Glia are grouped into macroglia –astrocytes, ependymal cells, and oligodendrocytes, and much smaller microglia which are the macrophages of the central nervous system.