College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, China.
State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica and Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Eur J Neurosci. 2023 Nov;58(9):3932-3961. doi: 10.1111/ejn.16160. Epub 2023 Oct 13.
Astrocytes have countless links with neurons. Previously, astrocytes were only considered a scaffold of neurons; in fact, astrocytes perform a variety of functions, including providing support for neuronal structures and energy metabolism, offering isolation and protection and influencing the formation, function and elimination of synapses. Because of these functions, astrocytes play an critical role in central nervous system (CNS) diseases. The regulation of the secretiory factors, receptors, channels and pathways of astrocytes can effectively inhibit the occurrence and development of CNS diseases, such as neuromyelitis optica (NMO), multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Huntington's disease. The expression of aquaporin 4 in AS is directly related to NMO and indirectly involved in the clearance of Aβ and tau proteins in AD. Connexin 43 has a bidirectional effect on glutamate diffusion at different stages of stroke. Interestingly, astrocytes reduce the occurrence of PD through multiple effects such as secretion of related factors, mitochondrial autophagy and aquaporin 4. Therefore, this review is focused on the structure and function of astrocytes and the correlation between astrocytes and CNS diseases and drug treatment to explore the new functions of astrocytes with the astrocytes as the target. This, in turn, would provide a reference for the development of new drugs to protect neurons and promote the recovery of nerve function.
星形胶质细胞与神经元有无数的联系。以前，星形胶质细胞仅被认为是神经元的支架；事实上，星形胶质细胞具有多种功能，包括为神经元结构和能量代谢提供支持，提供隔离和保护，并影响突触的形成、功能和消除。由于这些功能，星形胶质细胞在中枢神经系统（CNS）疾病中起着至关重要的作用。星形胶质细胞的分泌因子、受体、通道和途径的调节可以有效地抑制 CNS 疾病的发生和发展，如视神经脊髓炎（NMO）、多发性硬化症、阿尔茨海默病（AD）、帕金森病（PD）和亨廷顿病（HD）。星形胶质细胞中水通道蛋白 4 的表达与 NMO 直接相关，并间接参与 AD 中 Aβ和 tau 蛋白的清除。连接蛋白 43 在中风的不同阶段对谷氨酸扩散有双向影响。有趣的是，星形胶质细胞通过分泌相关因子、线粒体自噬和水通道蛋白 4 等多种作用减少 PD 的发生。因此，本综述重点介绍星形胶质细胞的结构和功能以及星形胶质细胞与 CNS 疾病和药物治疗的相关性，以探索星形胶质细胞的新功能，将星形胶质细胞作为靶点。这反过来又将为开发保护神经元和促进神经功能恢复的新药提供参考。
