Functional Diversity of Astrocytes in Neural Circuit Regulation

Functional Diversity of Astrocytes in Neural Circuit Regulation

Haim, Lucile B., and David H. Rowitch
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 18, no. 1 (2017): 31
https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2016.159

“Astrocytes comprise the largest class of glial cells in the mammalian CNS. They have key roles in maintaining the blood–brain barrier, regulating regional blood flow, providing trophic, antioxidant and metabolic support to neurons, neurotransmitter recycling, and regulating synaptogenesis and synaptic transmission. Astrocytes have traditionally been considered to be a homogenous cellular population, and it was assumed that astrocytes from different CNS regions were functionally interchangeable; however, glial biologists now have an appreciation of the important ways in which astrocytes are functionally diverse, a concept that fundamentally alters the way that we consider the regulation of the local neuron–glial cell unit and CNS organization.”

— Lucile Ben Haim & David H. Rowitch