Abstract
Ischemic stroke refers to the disorder of blood supply of local brain tissue caused by various reasons. It has high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cells in the central nervous system (CNS). They are responsible for the homeostasis, nutrition, and protection of the CNS and play an essential role in many nervous system diseases’ physiological and pathological processes. After stroke injury, astrocytes are activated and play a protective role through the heterogeneous and gradual changes of their gene expression, morphology, proliferation, and function, that is, reactive astrocytes. However, the position of reactive astrocytes has always been a controversial topic. Many studies have shown that reactive astrocytes are a double-edged sword with both beneficial and harmful effects. It is worth noting that their different spatial and temporal expression determines astrocytes’ various functions. Here, we comprehensively review the different roles and mechanisms of astrocytes after ischemic stroke. In addition, the intracellular mechanism of astrocyte activation has also been involved. More importantly, due to the complex cascade reaction and action mechanism after ischemic stroke, the role of astrocytes is still difficult to define. Still, there is no doubt that astrocytes are one of the critical factors mediating the deterioration or improvement of ischemic stroke.
Highlights
Stroke is divided into two categories: ischemic and hemorrhagic, characterized by high incidence rate, high disability rate, and high mortality rate
Astrocytes can release a variety of neurotrophic factors under normal physiological conditions, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF), glial cell linederived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and others (Ridet et al, 1997)
Under physiological conditions, but the abnormal up regulation of BDNF and its corresponding receptor Tyrosine Kinase receptor B will lead to excessive nitric oxide (NO) production and mediates neurotoxicity (Linnerbauer et al, 2020)
Summary
Ischemic stroke refers to the disorder of blood supply of local brain tissue caused by various reasons. It has high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cells in the central nervous system (CNS). They are responsible for the homeostasis, nutrition, and protection of the CNS and play an essential role in many nervous system diseases’ physiological and pathological processes. Astrocytes are activated and play a protective role through the heterogeneous and gradual changes of their gene expression, morphology, proliferation, and function, that is, reactive astrocytes. We comprehensively review the different roles and mechanisms of astrocytes after ischemic stroke.
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