Astrocyte heterogeneity in CNS
Astrocytes play a diverse range of roles that are essential for regulating neural circuit activity and associated brain function.
Classic physiological benchmarks used to define diverse cell populations in the central nervous system (CNS) cannot be applied to astrocytes, and thus require alternative criteria that can be used for defining astrocyte diversity
The developmental origins of astrocytes suggest that their diversity can be both developmentally encoded and influenced by the local cellular environment.
Single-marker studies, as well as mouse reporter lines, have been used to interrogate the unique functional properties of defined astrocyte subpopulations under homeostatic conditions.
Astrocytes respond to a range of social and sensory-based experiences, and these adaptations represent another form of their diversity because specialized populations with unique functional properties can emerge after experience.
https://www.cell.com/trends/neurosciences/fulltext/S0166-2236(25)00142-0
