Astrocytes are active players in cerebral innate immunity.

By C. Farina, F. Aloisi, E. Meinl. Trends in immunology, 2007

1,323 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Innate immunity is a constitutive component of the central nervous system (CNS) and relies strongly on resident myeloid cells, the microglia. However, evidence is emerging that the most abundant glial cell population of the CNS, the astrocyte, participates in the local innate immune response triggered by a variety of insults. Astrocytes display an array of receptors involved in innate immunity, including Toll-like receptors, nucleotide-binding oligomerization domains, double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase, scavenger receptors, mannose receptor and components of the complement system. Following activation, astrocytes are endowed with the ability to secrete soluble mediators, such as CXCL10, CCL2, interleukin-6 and BAFF, which have an impact on both innate and adaptive immune responses. The role of astrocytes in inflammation and tissue repair is elaborated by recent in vivo studies employing cell-type specific gene targeting.

Subfields: Immunology, Neurology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4041d1df66d1bd3d222afaea6d260d4ed3c08282

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Immunology

1. M. Sofroniew
2. Chuen-Mao Yang
3. Ruey-Horng Shih
4. Chen-Yu Wang

In Neurology

1. M. Sofroniew
2. H. Vinters
3. C. Farina
4. E. Colombo
5. J. Burda
6. M. Pekny
7. M. Pekna

Citations in the corpus

• Gender differences in autoimmune disease. (2014, neutral): “While microglia represent the primary immune cell of the central nervous system, astrocytes are also considered to be immunocompetent, as they possess the ability to synthesize immune molecules in response to insult/ injury (Farina et al., 2007; Gimsa et al., 2013; Jensen et al., 2013; Kaur et al., ”
• Blood-brain barrier pathophysiology in traumatic brain injury (2011, background): “Several members of the TLR family have been shown to be expressed on the cerebrovascular endothelium, as well as on astrocytes and microglia [143, 144].”
• Role of Oxidative Stress in Parkinson's Disease (2013, background): “In addition, neuron-derived α-synuclein stimulates astrocytes to produce inflammatory modulators that augment microglial chemotaxis, activation and proliferation [45].”
• Physiology of Astroglia. (2018, neutral): “Astroglial expression of TLR3 was detected in vitro, in situ, and in vivo (498).”
• Astrocytes: Key Regulators of Neuroinflammation. (2016, background): “Astrocytes are immune-competent cells able to detect danger signals, respond via secretion of cytokines and chemokines, and activate adaptive immune defense [2,3].”
• Astrocytes: biology and pathology (2009, background): “In response to different kinds of stimulation, reactive astrocytes can make many different kinds of molecules with either pro- or anti-inflammatory potential [60, 108] and reactive astrocytes can exert both pro- and anti-inflammatory effects on microglia [67, 148].”
• Astrocyte reactivity: Subtypes, states and functions in CNS innate immunity (2020, background): “Astrocytes have long been recognized to respond to activators of innate immune responses [89], including all forms of microbial pathogens [20, 21], environmental toxins [24, 25] and diverse forms of tissue damage as discussed above (Figure 1A).”
• Interleukin-17 production in central nervous system-infiltrating T cells and glial cells is associated with active disease in multiple sclerosis. (2008, background): “The fact that in inactive parts of the lesions we could detect IL-17 immunoreactivity in astrocytic processes but not in cell bodies could be attributable to the ability of astrocytes to act as scavenger cells.(41) Expression of IL-17 in astrocytes may explain the marked up-regulation of the IL-17 g”
• Oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and neurodegenerative diseases; a mechanistic insight. (2015, background): “to produce modulators of inflammatory that augment microglial activation, chemotaxis and proliferation [143].”
• NF-kappaB Signaling Pathways in Neurological Inflammation: A Mini Review (2015, background): “NF-κB has been shown to play the regulatory role of astrocytes on immune and inflammatory responses (Farina et al., 2007).”