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Astrocytes in a dish: Using pluripotent stem cells to model neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders

Crompton, Lucy A.; Cordero-Llana, Oscar; Caldwell, Maeve A.

Authors

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Dr Lucy Crompton Lucy.Crompton@uwe.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences (Neuroscience)

Oscar Cordero-Llana

Maeve A. Caldwell



Abstract

Neuroscience and Neurobiology have historically been neuron biased, yet up to 40% of the cells in the brain are astrocytes. These cells are heterogeneous and regionally diverse but universally essential for brain homeostasis. Astrocytes regulate synaptic transmission as part of the tripartite synapse, provide metabolic and neurotrophic support, recycle neurotransmitters, modulate blood flow and brain blood barrier permeability and are implicated in the mechanisms of neurodegeneration. Using pluripotent stem cells (PSC), it is now possible to study regionalised human astrocytes in a dish and to model their contribution to neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. The evidence challenging the traditional neuron-centric view of degeneration within the CNS is reviewed here, with focus on recent findings and disease phenotypes from human PSC-derived astrocytes. In addition we compare current protocols for the generation of regionalised astrocytes and how these can be further refined by our growing knowledge of neurodevelopment. We conclude by proposing a functional and phenotypical characterisation of PSC-derived astrocytic cultures that is critical for reproducible and robust disease modelling.

Citation

Crompton, L. A., Cordero-Llana, O., & Caldwell, M. A. (2017). Astrocytes in a dish: Using pluripotent stem cells to model neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. Brain Pathology, 27(4), 530-544. https://doi.org/10.1111/bpa.12522

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 27, 2017
Online Publication Date Jun 5, 2017
Publication Date 2017-07
Deposit Date Apr 21, 2022
Journal Brain Pathology
Print ISSN 1015-6305
Electronic ISSN 1750-3639
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 27
Issue 4
Pages 530-544
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/bpa.12522
Keywords Neurology (clinical); Pathology and Forensic Medicine; General Neuroscience; astrocytes; neurodegeneration
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9378358