A recently published study has highlighted the role of a sub-group of astrocytes (a type of brain cell) in brain inflammation, which can be a feature of multiple serious diseases, including multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. For more information about this research, you can read the source press release here, at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute’s website. Alternatively, you can find the original study published in eNeuro by clicking here.
About Astrocytes
Astrocytes are a star-shaped type of brain cell that are involved in multiple activities and are thought to play an important role in the functioning of the brain. Astrocytes have been implicated in maintaining the blood-brain barrier, getting rid of excess neurotransmitters, and repairing brain tissue, amongst other functions.
Research has indicated that astrocytes are involved in some diseases, and in particular those linked to brain inflammation, such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and mental illness.
The Study
Researchers from the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute carried out a study in which they identified a sub-type of astrocyte cell that the researchers think may play a role in neuroinflammatory diseases. The study was published in eNeuro under the title ‘A functionally defined in vivo astrocyte population identified by c-Fos activation in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis modulated by S1P signalling: immediate-early astrocytes (ieAstrocytes)’.
The scientists tracked activated brain cells that expressed cFos in mouse models of brain inflammation to see how cells behaved over time. Contrary to the researchers’ expectations, immune cells, neurons, and microglia didn’t appear to be activated using this method. However, a type of astrocyte cell that the researchers called ieAstrocytes were found the be the first and dominant cells activated as the disease was initiated and progressed. According to a researcher involved in the study, this suggests ieAstrocytes are a “key gatekeeper” of the disease, a conclusion that contradicts the idea that astrocytes mainly play a role after damage has already happened.
In addition, the researchers found that levels of ieAstrocytes rose over the course of brain inflammation progression. When the team treated the brain cells with the drug Gilenya®(an FDA-approved therapy for MS, also known as fingolimod), they found that it reduced the formation of ieAstrocytes.
Conclusions
These findings implicate ieAstrocytes as an important cell during disease formation and progression. The researchers are following up on these findings, by investigating the molecular and genetic features of the ieAstrocytes.
