Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Front Neuroendocrinol. 2021 Jan;60:100897. doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2020.100897. Epub 2020 Dec 24.
Astroglial cells are the most abundant cell type in the mammalian brain. They are implicated in almost every aspect of brain physiology, including maintaining homeostasis, building and maintaining the blood brain barrier, and the development and maturation of neuronal networks. Critically, astroglia also express receptors for gonadal sex hormones, respond rapidly to gonadal hormones, and are able to synthesize hormones. Thus, they are positioned to guide and mediate sexual differentiation of the brain, particularly neuronal networks in typical and pathological conditions. In this review, we describe astroglial involvement in the organization and development of the brain, and consider known sex differences in astroglial responses to understand how astroglial cell-mediated organization may play a role in forebrain sexual dimorphisms in human populations. Finally, we consider how sexually dimorphic astroglial responses and functions in development may lead to sex differences in vulnerability for neuropsychiatric disorders.
星形胶质细胞是哺乳动物大脑中最丰富的细胞类型。它们几乎参与了大脑生理学的各个方面，包括维持内环境稳定、构建和维持血脑屏障，以及神经元网络的发育和成熟。至关重要的是，星形胶质细胞也表达性腺性激素受体，对性腺激素迅速做出反应，并能够合成激素。因此，它们能够指导和介导大脑的性分化，特别是在典型和病理条件下的神经元网络。在这篇综述中，我们描述了星形胶质细胞在大脑的组织和发育中的作用，并考虑了已知的星形胶质细胞对性激素反应的性别差异，以了解星形胶质细胞介导的组织如何在人类群体的前脑性二态性中发挥作用。最后，我们考虑了发育过程中性别二态性星形胶质细胞反应和功能如何导致神经精神障碍易感性的性别差异。
