Nimmerjahn Axel
Department of Biology, James H. Clark Center for Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5435, USA.
J Physiol. 2009 Apr 15;587(Pt 8):1639-47. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2008.167171. Epub 2009 Feb 9.
Astrocytes are one of the most numerous cell types in the CNS. They have emerged as sophisticated cells participating in a large and diverse variety of functions vital for normal brain development, adult physiology and pathology. Recent in vivo studies have provided exciting new insight into astrocyte physiology in the intact healthy brain. This review will summarize some of their most intriguing findings, discuss some of their implications, and look ahead at some of the challenges we face in studying astrocyte function in vivo.
星形胶质细胞是中枢神经系统中数量最多的细胞类型之一。它们已成为复杂的细胞,参与对正常脑发育、成体生理学和病理学至关重要的大量且多样的功能。最近的体内研究为完整健康大脑中的星形胶质细胞生理学提供了令人兴奋的新见解。本综述将总结一些最引人入胜的发现,讨论其中的一些影响,并展望我们在体内研究星形胶质细胞功能时面临的一些挑战。