Reactive astrocytes form a scar after injury to the CNS that many investigators believe contributes to the lack of functional regeneration. In the present study, we identify an astrocytic membrane protein that appears to play an important role in reactive gliosis and scar formation. Cultures of rat astrocytes were used as a model system to produce and to screen monoclonal antibodies that would ...

High-affinity excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) are essential to terminate glutamatergic neurotransmission and to prevent excitotoxicity. To date, five distinct EAATs have been cloned from animal and human tissues: GLAST (EAAT1), GLT-1 (EAAT2), EAAC1 (EAAT3), EAAT4, and EAAT5. EAAT1 and EAAT2 are commonly known as glial glutamate transporters, whereas EAAT3, EAAT4, and EAAT5 are neuron...

The differential pharmacological responsiveness of cephalic and extra-cephalic neuropathic pain has been proposed to relate to distinct mechanisms that may involve neuroinflammatory reactions mediated by glial cells. Astrocytes are particularly important for neuronal sensitization in neuropathic pain, in part through modulation of glutamatergic transmission. Because the metabotropic glutamate r...

Recent research has suggested that mild denervation of the neocortex of adult rats may facilitate neuronal growth in response to behavioral changes. Astrocytes react to denervation, produce growth-promoting factors and are a potential mediator of this denervation-facilitated growth. The present study assessed whether astrocytic reactions to denervation vary dependent upon post-injury behavioral...

BACKGROUND Adenosine signaling has been implicated in several neurological and psychiatric disorders. Previously, we found that astrocytic excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2) and aquaporin 4 (AQP4) are downregulated in the striatum of mice lacking type 1 equilibrative nucleoside transporter (ENT1). METHODS To further investigate the gene expression profile in the striatum, we preforme...

Excitotoxicity due to glutamate receptor over-activation is one of the key mediators of neuronal death after an ischemic insult. Therefore, a major function of astrocytes is to maintain low extracellular levels of glutamate. The ability of astrocytic glutamate transporters to regulate the extracellular glutamate concentration depends upon the hyperpolarized membrane potential of astrocytes conf...

The development of human pineal astrocytes was studied in a prospective autopsy series of 115 cases with an age range of 24 weeks of gestation to 91 years. Pineal glands selected from cases with postmortem intervals of one to 24 hours were fixed in Bouin's fluid and immunostained using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique and an antiserum against human glial fibrillary acidic (GFA) protein. ...

Reactive gliosis is a glial response to a wide range of central nervous system insults, which results in cellular and molecular changes to resting glial cells. Despite its fundamental effect on neuropathologies, the identification and characterization of the molecular mechanisms underlying this process remain to be fully elucidated. The aim of the present study was to analyze the expression pro...

Based on the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a recent hypothesis considered stem or progenitor cells in the adult hippocampus to be a type of astrocyte. In a complementary approach, we used transgenic mice expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the promoter for nestin, an intermediate filament present in progenitor cells, to demonstrate astrocytic features in nes...