Astrocytes and disease: a neurodevelopmental perspective

  1. David H. Rowitch1,2,3,10
  1. 1Department of Pediatrics,
  2. 2Department of Neurosurgery, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research,
  3. 3Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California, 94143, USA;
  4. 4Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, San Francisco, California 94143, USA;
  5. 5Department of Ophthalmology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California, 94143, USA;
  6. 6Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA;
  7. 7Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research,
  8. 8Research Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom;
  9. 9Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California 94305, USA

    Abstract

    Astrocytes are no longer seen as a homogenous population of cells. In fact, recent studies indicate that astrocytes are morphologically and functionally diverse and play critical roles in neurodevelopmental diseases such as Rett syndrome and fragile X mental retardation. This review summarizes recent advances in astrocyte development, including the role of neural tube patterning in specification and developmental functions of astrocytes during synaptogenesis. We propose here that a precise understanding of astrocyte development is critical to defining heterogeneity and could lead advances in understanding and treating a variety of neuropsychiatric diseases.

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