Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada.
Cells. 2021 May 28;10(6):1339. doi: 10.3390/cells10061339.
Astrocytes have been associated with the failure of axon regeneration in the central nervous system (CNS), as it undergoes reactive gliosis in response to damages to the CNS and functions as a chemical and physical barrier to axon regeneration. However, beneficial roles of astrocytes have been extensively studied in the spinal cord over the years, and a growing body of evidence now suggests that inducing astrocytes to become more growth-supportive can promote axon regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI). In retina, astrocytes and Müller cells are known to undergo reactive gliosis after damage to retina and/or optic nerve and are hypothesized to be either detrimental or beneficial to survival and axon regeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Whether they can be induced to become more growth-supportive after retinal and optic nerve injury has yet to be determined. In this review, we pinpoint the potential molecular pathways involved in the induction of growth-supportive astrocytes in the spinal cord and suggest that stimulating the activation of these pathways in the retina could represent a new therapeutic approach to promoting survival and axon regeneration of RGCs in retinal degenerative diseases.
星形胶质细胞与中枢神经系统 (CNS) 中的轴突再生失败有关，因为它们在中枢神经系统受损时会发生反应性神经胶质增生，并作为轴突再生的化学和物理屏障。然而，近年来，星形胶质细胞在脊髓中的有益作用已得到广泛研究，越来越多的证据表明，诱导星形胶质细胞变得更有利于生长可以促进脊髓损伤 (SCI) 后的轴突再生。在视网膜中，星形胶质细胞和 Müller 细胞已知在视网膜和/或视神经损伤后会发生反应性神经胶质增生，并且据推测它们对视网膜神经节细胞 (RGC) 的存活和轴突再生有不利或有利的影响。它们在视网膜和视神经损伤后是否可以被诱导变得更有利于生长仍有待确定。在这篇综述中，我们指出了在脊髓中诱导有利于生长的星形胶质细胞的潜在分子途径，并提出刺激这些途径在视网膜中的激活可能代表促进视网膜退行性疾病中 RGC 存活和轴突再生的新治疗方法。
