Astrocytes are important for protecting neurons in the central nervous system. It has been reported that some antioxidants could protect astrocytes from ischemia/reperfusion-induced dysfunction. Cinnamtannin B-1 is a naturally occurring A-type proanthocyanidin that exhibits anti-oxidant properties. In this study, we investigated the effects of cinnamtannin B-1 on spinal cord astrocytes. Astrocy...

Astrocytes outnumber neurons and serve many metabolic and trophic functions in the mammalian brain. Preserving astrocytes is critical for normal brain function as well as for protecting the brain against various insults. Our previous studies have indicated that methylene blue (MB) functions as an alternative electron carrier and enhances brain metabolism. In addition, MB has been shown to be pr...

To date, it remains poorly understood whether astrocytes can be easily reprogrammed into neurons. Mash1 and Brn2 have been previously shown to cooperate to reprogram fibroblasts into neurons. In this study, we examined astrocytes from 2-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats, and found that Brn2 was expressed, but Mash1 was not detectable. Thus, we hypothesized that Mash1 alone could be used to reprogra...

Introduction: Recent studies have shown that astrocytes play major roles in normal and disease condition of the central nervous system including multiple sclerosis (MS). Molecular target therapy studies in MS have revealed that connexin-43 (Cx43) and Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) contents of astrocytes undergo expression alteration. Fluoxetine had some effects in MS patients unrelated to its known antidep...

Calcineurin (CaN) is a Ca2+/calmodulin (Ca2+/CaM)-dependent serine/threonine protein phosphatase expressed in most mammalian tissues but found at higher concentration in brain. In the last decade there have been a steadily increasing number of studies identifying neuronal CaN as a primary suspect in neuronal vulnerability, synapse loss, dendritic atrophy, synaptic dysfunction and neuroinflammat...

Kintner, Douglas B., Gui Su, Brett Lenart, Andy J. Ballard, Jamie W. Meyer, Leong L. Ng, Gary E. Shull, and Dandan Sun. Increased tolerance to oxygen and glucose deprivation in astrocytes from Na /H exchanger isoform 1 null mice. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 287: C12–C21, 2004. First published March 10, 2004; 10.1152/ajpcell.00560.2003.—The ubiquitously expressed Na /H exchanger isoform 1 (NHE1) f...

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is an extracellular lipid mediator that regulates nervous system development and functions through multiple types of LPA receptors. Here we explore the role of LPA receptor subtypes in cortical astrocyte functions. Astrocytes cultured under serum-free conditions were found to express the genes of five LPA receptor subtypes, lpa1 to lpa5. When astrocytes were treated ...

Reactive astrocytes in neurotrauma, stroke, or neurodegeneration are thought to undergo cellular hypertrophy, based on their morphological appearance revealed by immunohistochemical detection of glial fibrillary acidic protein, vimentin, or nestin, all of them forming intermediate filaments, a part of the cytoskeleton. Here, we used a recently established dye-filling method to reveal the full t...

Astrocytes generate calcium signals throughout their fine processes, which are assumed to locally regulate neighbouring neurotransmission and blood flow. The intercellular morphological relationships mature during juvenile periods when astrocytes elongate highly ramified processes. In this study, we examined developmental changes in calcium activity patterns of single hippocampal astrocytes usi...

Astrocytes constitute a major cell population in the brain with a myriad of essential functions, yet we know remarkably little about the signaling pathways and mechanisms that direct astrocyte maturation. To explore the signals regulating astrocyte development, we prospectively purified and cultured immature postnatal rodent astrocytes. We identified fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) and bone mo...