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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.
In addition, this channel is commonly found facilitating water movement near cerebrospinal fluid and vasculature. [9] Aquaporin-4 was first identified in 1986. It was the first evidence of the existence of water transport channels. [10] The method that was used to discover the existence of the transport channels was through knockout experiments.
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.
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.
The major types of gliotransmitters released from astrocytes include glutamate and ATP.. Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter within the central nervous system that can also be defined as a gliotransmitter due to its ability to increase cytosolic Ca 2+ concentrations in astrocytes.
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless body fluid found within the tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord of all vertebrates. CSF is produced by specialized ependymal cells in the choroid plexus of the ventricles of the brain, and absorbed in the arachnoid granulations. In humans, there is about 125 mL of CSF at any one time ...
Aqueductal stenosis, a narrowing of the cerebral aqueduct, obstructs the flow of CSF and has been associated with non-communicating hydrocephalus. Such narrowing can be congenital, arise via tumor compression (e.g. pinealoblastoma), or through cyclical gliosis secondary to an initial partial obstruction. [5]
SGCs are present in the PNS in fewer numbers than other more well-known types of glial cells, like astrocytes, but have been determined to affect nociception because of some of their physiological and pharmacological properties. [21] In fact, just like astrocytes, SGCs have the ability to sense and regulate neighboring neuronal activity. [30]