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The Many Faces of Astrocytes in Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and is the most common cause of dementia in an aging population. The majority of research effort has focused on the role of neurons in neurodegeneration and current therapies have limited ability to slow disease progression. Re...

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Autores principales: Monterey, Michael D., Wei, Haichao, Wu, Xizi, Wu, Jia Qian
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8438135/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34531807
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.619626
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author Monterey, Michael D.
Wei, Haichao
Wu, Xizi
Wu, Jia Qian
author_facet Monterey, Michael D.
Wei, Haichao
Wu, Xizi
Wu, Jia Qian
author_sort Monterey, Michael D.
collection PubMed
description Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and is the most common cause of dementia in an aging population. The majority of research effort has focused on the role of neurons in neurodegeneration and current therapies have limited ability to slow disease progression. Recently more attention has been given to the role of astrocytes in the process of neurodegeneration. Specifically, reactive astrocytes have both advantageous and adverse effects during neurodegeneration. The ability to isolate and depict astrocyte phenotype has been challenging. However, with the recent development of single-cell sequencing technologies researchers are provided with the resource to delineate specific biomarkers associated with reactive astrocytes in AD. In this review, we will focus on the role of astrocytes in normal conditions and the pathological development of AD. We will further review recent developments in the understanding of astrocyte heterogeneity and associated biomarkers. A better understanding of astrocyte contributions and phenotypic changes in AD can ultimately lead to more effective therapeutic targets.
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spelling pubmed-84381352021-09-15 The Many Faces of Astrocytes in Alzheimer's Disease Monterey, Michael D. Wei, Haichao Wu, Xizi Wu, Jia Qian Front Neurol Neurology Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and is the most common cause of dementia in an aging population. The majority of research effort has focused on the role of neurons in neurodegeneration and current therapies have limited ability to slow disease progression. Recently more attention has been given to the role of astrocytes in the process of neurodegeneration. Specifically, reactive astrocytes have both advantageous and adverse effects during neurodegeneration. The ability to isolate and depict astrocyte phenotype has been challenging. However, with the recent development of single-cell sequencing technologies researchers are provided with the resource to delineate specific biomarkers associated with reactive astrocytes in AD. In this review, we will focus on the role of astrocytes in normal conditions and the pathological development of AD. We will further review recent developments in the understanding of astrocyte heterogeneity and associated biomarkers. A better understanding of astrocyte contributions and phenotypic changes in AD can ultimately lead to more effective therapeutic targets. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-08-31 /pmc/articles/PMC8438135/ /pubmed/34531807 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.619626 Text en Copyright © 2021 Monterey, Wei, Wu and Wu. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neurology
Monterey, Michael D.
Wei, Haichao
Wu, Xizi
Wu, Jia Qian
The Many Faces of Astrocytes in Alzheimer's Disease
title The Many Faces of Astrocytes in Alzheimer's Disease
title_full The Many Faces of Astrocytes in Alzheimer's Disease
title_fullStr The Many Faces of Astrocytes in Alzheimer's Disease
title_full_unstemmed The Many Faces of Astrocytes in Alzheimer's Disease
title_short The Many Faces of Astrocytes in Alzheimer's Disease
title_sort many faces of astrocytes in alzheimer's disease
topic Neurology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8438135/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34531807
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.619626
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