ASTROCYTES AND THEIR ROLE IN THE PATHOLOGY OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Abstract

Determination of the structural-functional significance of astrocytes in the physiology and pathology of the CNS is an actual problem of modern neuroscience and clinical neurology. Astrocytes are glial cells of the brain, constitute the substance of the brain, support neurons and separate them with their bodies into compartments. They participate in the immune response of the brain, they are able to maintain the chronic inflammation and progressive neurodegeneration due to overexpression of cytokines, growth factors, and chemokines. This review discusses the key features of astrogliosis as complex of molecular, cellular and functional changes of astrocytes in the response to various brain injuries. Reactive astrogliosis is critical for regeneration and remodeling of neural networks after the injury and ischemia and can have both positive and negative impact. The overexpression of S100b protein is an index of the astrocyte activation, which is characteristic for glial cells as this protein is located mainly in astrocytes. In cerebral ischemia, traumatic brain injury or neurodegenerative diseases there is the modulation of astrogliosis, aimed at the provision of repair mechanisms of the damaged parts of the brain that determines search capabilities of the new means of pharmacological correction of activated astrocytes and other glial components for the treatment of neurological diseases.